Yes people, I am back! It’s been a long time since I’ve left you with something to laugh at, think about, or just scratch your head. Regardless I know I have a lot of ground to cover and I will definitely be throwing some interesting topics your way in the coming days, weeks, and months.

SO WHAT’S NEW? UNFORTUNATELY THIS…

First thing’s first…Let’s get to this week’s biggest news so far which has been the scandal in State College. If you don’t know the particulars, here’s the main gist of it. Jerry Sandusky, who is known around the college football world as being one of the best linebackers coaches in the country is being charged with over 40 counts of sexual abuse to minors, as well as former collegiate players at Penn State.

To make matters worse, it looks like Joe-Pa was in on it. Yes, Joe Paterno, the most revered coach perhaps in all of college football may or may not have had a hand in some type of cover up.

This week the board of trustees at Penn State University are going to decide the future of Joe Paterno’s status as a head coach. However, today, Joe Paterno announced his decision to call it quits at the end of the season. That is, if the board of trustees allow him to finish off the season in the wake of a huge sex scandal.

YourMvp’s Thoughts;

Folks, I’m not here to pass judgement on anyone. I’m only here to speak my mind. My first thought as a fan of football is to tell the media to shut up and play ball. But after careful thought, this is one of those things that I cannot ignore. I am not a parent, and I am not planning on becoming one anytime soon, but what happened is wrong.

If you were one of the victims’ fathers you wouldn’t be able to overlook this. It’s clear that Jerry Sandusky is the scum of the earth if what he did is true. There’s no debating that. My concern here is trying to determine whether Joe Paterno has done any wrong.

This is a coach that has lasted the length of 12 presidential terms, and in that time he has had a spotless record save for this. Does that make it ok, though? And if it’s not ok, does that mean that this is grounds for getting rid of him. This man is a rock star in State College. I know what I think should be done, but I will refrain from any public judgements, for now.

Feel free to chime in and leave a comment telling me what your thoughts are.

Image Source: streetball.com

You know that moment when you just want to look someone dead in the eye and, with the most serious and cold look that you possess, utter those two magical words?

“Shut up.”

The truth of the matter is sometimes people do just need to be quiet, and please spare me the comments telling me to shut up because I can see coming them from a mile away.

“Shut up”

There, I did it for you.

Anyhow, it seems like athletes are the most prone to saying stupid things, and the increasing popularity of social media outlets that won’t censor them, like Twitter, has just increased the epidemic.

The NFL is full of players who just need to shut up, be it because of stupid quotes, tweets or just being extremely annoying or shady.

Here are 5 NFL stars that just need to put a sock in it.

CHAD OCHOCINCO

First, let me start off by saying that I actually really do like Chad Ochocinco. Of all the players, he’s the only one that runs his mouth, but doesn’t get into trouble for doing stuff off the field. He is really just a big kid.

However, even big kids need to know when to reel it in a little bit. His mouth is the main reason why I think that QB Carson Palmer wants out of Cincinnati. It’s a shame too, because they could’ve really been quite the duo.

So shut up Chad.

TERRELL OWENS

Has he quieted down over the past 2 seasons? Yes. Does it matter? No. Somehow someway, I just know that Owens is gonna run his mouth again.

Can you blame him though? His agent is Drew Rosenhaus, and quite frankly I don’t know who’s mouth irritates me more, Drew’s or Terrell’s.

To the both of them, I say “shut up!”

ALBERT HAYNESWORTH

It’s guys like this that make me happy that the NFL went through the lockout of its players. You see, one of the sticking points of the NFL is that they are tired of throwing away millions of dollars to rookies that haven’t proven themselves on the field.

This new deal, which should come into place sometime this week, now says if you want Peyton Manning money then you have to earn it. Haynesworth has slacked off now for the past 2 seasons and is really getting under my skin.

Haynesworth, please stop throwing your coach under the bus, collecting millions of dollars while showing up to mini camp late and out of shape, and just shut up!

RASHARD MENDENHALL

This is one of those, I’d rather just show you moments. After news came in about the death of Osama Bin Laden, he tweeted;

“What kind of person celebrates death? It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side…”

Which is fine, most of us with a brain felt the same way he did, until he started getting all conspiracy theorist on us, and went on to say;

“I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.”

Yea. Shut up Rashard. Just shut up.

JAMES HARRISON

Harrison’s latest comments came in a Men’s Journal article that will be released in August.

If you haven’t seen these quotes, let me fill you in on some of the gems you are missing out on.

“My rep is James Harrison, mean son of a bitch who loves hitting the hell out of people,” he says. “But up until last year, there was no word of me being dirty—till Roger Goodell, who’s a crook and a puppet, said I was the dirtiest player in the league. If that man was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldn’t do it. I hate him and will never respect him.”

Not to mention, he threw Big Ben under the bus by saying he’s not anywhere near the type of quarterback that Peyton manning is and he knows it.

For the record James, you were known as a dirty player way before Roger Goodell ever said anything about the matter. I’ve never disliked a guy more both as a player and as a person in my entire life. He is the person you think of whenever you have to tell a child “There is no I in TEAM.”

He always is out to save his own neck, doesn’t care about his teammates and would throw any one of them under the bus, like he already has, to save his own skin. He doesn’t deserve to play a team sport like football. Personally, I’d love to see him become an MMA fighter just to see his teeth get knocked out by some other guy. Maybe Brock Lesnar can do the honors.

James Harrison, do us all a favor and SHUT UP!

It’s pretty amazing that Derek Jeter is about to hit 3000 hits, all as a Yankee. How amazing? Well If you’re a casual baseball fan, or a fan of some other team, let me put it into perspective for ya.

There’s only 27 current members of the 3000 hit club. Derek Jeter will be 28, and he will be the FIRST Yankee to do that. There are 2 guys that have been Yankees that are in the 3000 hit club (Wade Boggs, and Ricky Henderson), but Boggs began his career in Boston, and Henderson quite frankly is an Oakland Athletic through and through.

So without further ado, allow me to introduce Jeter’s 5 best moments. Keep in mind this is a collection of Jeter’s five best moments, not necessarily his five best hits.

You should also note that I’m including Jeter’s best playoff moments/ hits despite the fact that Post season hits do not count towards his regular season hit record. That being said, allow me to start with his Defense.

5. THE TURN & THROW IN MID AIR.

Take a look at that image, ladies and gents. That’s not a fluke, or some play that he does once in a blue. There was once a time where he could’ve turned that play in mid air on a nightly basis.

Jeter was the first person that I ever saw play Shortstop that thought it was a good idea to leave his feet AND jump away from first base as he’s throwing. Go ahead and read that last sentence again. That’s agility 101, people.

4. THE FLIP THROW THAT TAGGED OUT GIAMBI

I could tell you how even to this day I remember every single second of that play like it was yesterday. I could tell you how no other position player, let alone a shortstop would ever have made that catch and throw. And I could tell you how the entire stadium was left gasping in shock at what just happened; but, I’d rather just show you.

3. JETER BREAKS THE RECORD FOR ALL TIME HITS AT THE OLD YANKEE STADIUM

It’s a record that no one can ever touch. Ever. Not any current players. Not any future players. The house that Babe Ruth built will forever have Derek Jeter’s signature on it.

2. THE DIVE.

This is what playing for the New York Yankees is all about. A night game in the summer. A game in which they were playing against the Boston Red Sox. A game that went 13 innings after it was all said and done.

And in the bottom of the 12th, Manny Ramirez pops a ball up that looks like it’s going to go foul. And then out of nowhere, you see Jeter running past A-Rod reaching out to make the catch and diving head first like an Olympic swimmer going into a pool.

He was bloodied, lumped up, and limping back on to the field. And he walked back to the dugout to get ready for the next half of the inning. Like nothing happened. He’s the captain for a reason, folks.

And the number 1 play….

1.Mr. November

Once again, I’d rather just show you.

Aw snap, here it is. It’s time to get ready for the possibility of an entire winter without NFL or NBA games. Why? Well it seems to be for the same reasons on both sides.

For those of you that aren’t sure what’s going on, allow me to clarify. Both the NBA and NFL have players unions that want to attain more money for the players benefit (such as higher salaries).

However, these players unions come into direct conflict with the Leagues themselves because they’d like to use that same pool of money for the League’s benefit (such as putting on more games, advertising, commercials, stadium costs, etc…)

The bottom line is this; the general public, as fans, don’t care. They just want to see a game come this fall. One thing is for sure though. If there are no games this fall there will be serious hell to pay. Here’s how.

5. ROOKIES WON’T GET THEIR SHOT AT MAKING IT BIG

The college football stars that are making it to the NFL are basically starting from scratch. Even 1st round draft picks are seen as players that still have to prove themselves on the field. The only way they can do that is by actually getting out there.

If there are no games this year, players will lose their conditioning, strength, and will get “rusty” so to speak. This will really affect players drafted after the 3rd and 4th rounds, and could possibly miss their shot at the big time.

4. PLAYERS WILL GET DAY JOBS

This is probably my favorite story of the month. Leave it to a 17 year veteran of the game of baseball to tell a 2nd year rookie to stop being soft.

Jason Heyward (right) is taking some time off to recuperate his sore shoulder, and has gone on record saying that he doesn’t want to return to playing until it doesn’t hurt anymore.

Well Jason, you might have been able to play that card in Washington, or in Milwaukee, or in Houston where there is an abundance of youth and no experience. You’re in Atlanta, with a future hall of famer, and quite frankly that attitude’s not gonna fly with Chipper Jones.

Usually, when one teammate calls another guy out I get an urge to tell him to shut the hell up. In this case though, Chipper Jones would be the equivalent of a war general. And when war generals call you out, you shut up and listen. And according to Chipper, Heyward is gonna have to learn how to play through pain.

“What Jason has to realize is that Jason at 80 percent is a force. And Jason at 80 percent is better than a lot of people in this league. And that there are a bunch of his teammates that are out there playing with discomfort and not healthy, and still going at it.”

This is the right way to call out a player when you think they’re doing something wrong. It can’t just be anybody to call out a player, and when you do, you have to do some delegating. Chipper Jones had the tone of a concerned parent.

Unlike Carlos Zambrano, who had the tone of a spoiled child and completely threw his team under the bus. Zambrano saw two consecutive leads turn into disappointing losses at the hands of Albert Pujols and the Cardinals and as a result, he also lost it. I believe the exact qoute was;

‘The problem wasn’t Pujols,’’ Zambrano said. ‘‘The problem was the previous at-bat [in the ninth]. We should know better than this. We played like a Triple-A team. This is embarrassing, embarrassing for the team, for the owners, embarrassing for the fans. Embarrassing. That’s the word here for this team.’’

Then came the attack directed at fellow pitcher Carlos Marmol, ‘‘We should know better than this. We should know that Ryan Theriot is not a good fastball hitter. We should know that as a team. We should play better here. We stink. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

Professionalism. I think that is the lesson to be learned here. Veterans like Chipper Jones exude this. Hotheads like Zambrano could actually benefit from putting a lid on his mouth.

As always, this is YourMVP.

Well, I can’t say what the toughest one is, but as a former catcher, I can tell you that there’s nothing like seeing a dude 90 feet away from you run full speed towards you.

Not only do you have to brace for the hit, but you have to take your eyes away from him for as long as it takes to field the ball. Most times, by the time the ball is in your hands and you look back…BOOM!

When done the right way, and with enough time to react, catchers can avoid a collision by doing a simple sidestep. Kind of like the “Ole!” of a matador when facing a bull. Veteran catchers like Jorge Posada for example are the best in the business at this.

However, you can’t always anticipate a sidestep because you must block the runner from making it home, which is when bigtime hits happen. Kudos to John Brinkas and the good folks at ESPN to describe what this is like..

It’s finally time to see who will emerge out of the east and go to the NBA Finals tonight as the Bulls take on the Heat in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

As many could have probably expected when the season began, it will come down to the MVP Derrick Rose and the Bulls as he takes on LeBron James(and his “talents”), and D. Wade/ Bosh in South Beach.

Here are my 5 bold predictions that will decide this series:

1.LEBRON JAMES WILL GET A TRIPLE DOUBLE.

James has had 4 triple doubles in the regular season, but hasn’t been able to do the same in the playoffs.

However, Joakim Noah has a tendency to just stand around and watch the ball. If he does more of the same in this series, King James will find lanes, and get double digits in rebounds easy and will finally get that playoff triple double.

2.DERRICK ROSE WILL SCORE 45 IN AT THIS SERIES.

Rose has already gotten a personal playoff high 44 points in the series versus the Hawks, so look for him to outdo himself on the 2nd to biggest stage vs. LeBron and the Heat.

Side prediction: Derrick Rose will break LeBron’s ankles at least once.

3.OVERTIME!!

The three games that they’ve played in the regular season have all been decided by no more than 8 points. Yea, you heard right.

If we’re lucky enough to see those kinds of close games in this series, we will definitely be treated to some overtime games.

I wouldn’t be surprised if every game goes to extras, just like those hockey playoff games.

4.NOBODY WILL BE ABLE TO STOP DERRICK ROSE’S SPEED.

Mike Bibby can’t do it. Mario Chalmers can’t do it. So who can? Bron-Bron? D. Wade? Nope. Here’s why.

LeBron James and D. Wade have a tendency to not be sure on who should take over the game in the 4th quarter. That leads to a lot of standing around, and we all know what happens when you stand around in front of Derrick Rose; he burns you.

Chicago doesn’t have that problem. The Bulls know who the role players are  (like Boozer and Deng), they know who the playmakers are (like Noah), and they all know who should get the ball in the final minutes to close games out. That’s a no brainer.

and last but not least…

5.THE CHICAGO BULLS WILL WIN IN 7 GAMES

Ever since the Miami Heat made it into the playoffs, I’ve noticed a complete 180 degree flip on the media’s opinion of them.

Before even making it into the playoffs, the media doubted the Heat. In fact, I don’t remember one media source predicting that the Miami Heat would make it into the Conference Finals.

Now everyone has the Heat not only winning the series, but also has them winning the NBA Finals. This is absurd.

Yes, the Heat are a good team, but the Chicago Bulls are the No. 1 seed for a reason, and they handled the Miami Heat in the regular season as well so the Bulls know what it takes to defeat them.

A lot of the media is also saying that the Bulls are one player and one year out, but to me they have a championship core RIGHT NOW.

Korver has the ability to drop 3′s in a hurry. Deng, Boozer, and Noah together make up the best defense in the league (or they at least have the best D out of the remaining teams).

What does all this spell? The Chicago Bulls in 7.

Have you ever sat down for a night and watched the NFL Draft? Well if you have, you would realize that those guys are really sharp dressers am I right? So then it’s safe to say that the majority of draft picks learn how to be really well dressed. I mean, you would too if you were attending a Fashion and Football event that was held at Maserati of Manhattan. Here’s a look at some of the soon to be NFL stars dressed at their finest.

Draftee, Julio Jones

My next stop was at the Samsung Experience Center located in the heart of NYC Columbus Circle. Again, football’s finest was in attendance as New York City was host to the upcoming NFL Draft. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, most of the big name stars had come and gone.

However, I was not disappointed as I soon discovered that I was in a sports fans paradise. Some of the most noteworthy pieces were up for auction at the event, and all proceeds from the auction would benefit the Jarvis Green foundation.

If you couldn’t tell by looking at this piece, this is a 1969 NY Jets  team signed helmet with some of the aforementioned signatures shown. Other noteworthy signatures on the other side of this helmet include Winston Hill, Don Maynard, and of course the immortal “Broadway” Joe Namath. This helmet is a true fanatic’s gold crown as just about every member of that team played a role in winning that trophy, including the most famous defensive line ever, otherwise known as the New York Sack Exchange.

A Super Bowl 42 team signed helmet

If you’re a native New Yorker, then you must have known what it was like watching Super Bowl XLII when the New York Giants faced off against the undefeated New England Patriots.

It seemed as if the Patriots winning the SuperBowl was just a foregone conclusion and that the New York Giants was just another obstacle in the way. And then it happened; the best defensive effort throughout four quarters of football led by Michael Strahan, and the most incredible catch by David Tyree that anyone has ever seen, otherwise known as the catch heard round the world.

Speaking of class, this next piece comes from nothing less than a true class act; Vince Lombardi. This man was considered a god among men. He was also the greatest leader of men that any sports team has arguably ever seen. His success stemmed from an incredible ability to coach and his gift of gab which was second to none. Below is quite possibly the greatest speech ever given to a group of men on a football field.

"Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is. It is reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win. And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat. I don't say these things because I believe in the "brute" nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, I believe in human decency, but I firmly belive that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."

There was also a signed copy of what is known as the mantra of the Notre Dame football team, autographed by one of the winningest coaches in Notre Dame football history, Lou Holtz, along with various other pieces being auctioned off…

A Jackie Robinson Mural up for auction

All in all class and elegance was definitely on display last week. Whether it was the impeccably dressed NFL stars and draft picks at their finest, or the timeless (and priceless) sports memorabilia items which were on display, “fashion” and “football” surely made their mark on New York City last week. Personally, I feel we could all take cues from events like these and savor moments which give us an opportunity to look and feel our best.

For more on TR Luxury’s party, read my review for The AUDRA Catalog here and for a detailed report on all the auction items, click here.

Here it is folks. This one is for all the bragging rights. Anything and everything that the Miami Heat have done up to this point means absolutely nothing. Not their record, not their bad start, not their strong finish, not even their struggles with putting away the Sixers in the first round.

If the Heat want to be taken seriously (and silence some of their critics), they have to prove themselves in the playoffs. To quote the great Ric Flair, “to be the best, you have to beat the best.”

But if the Heat want to beat the Celtics, they are going to have to do it while the Celtics are red hot (no pun intended).

Boston just swept the New York Knicks in 4 games, and they seem to have their “mojo” back. Their timing couldn’t have been any better, seeing as how they were coming under harsh criticism for their terrible finish, and really staggered into the playoffs. Trading Kendrick Perkins almost collectively did them in as a team.

Nothing like an under-manned Knicks team to help change the attitude in Boston right?

THE CASE FOR THE HEAT

• The one saving grace for the Heat is that they will have home court advantage.
• The Heat can also say that their core players are younger than the Celtics core players.
• The Heat know that other than the Celtics’s big 3, Boston doesn’t really trust their supporting players. Just ask Garnett if he trusts Nenad Kristic to set a pick or make a shot.

THE CASE FOR THE CELTICS

• Matchups; Doc Rivers is going to take advantage of the matchups between Ray Allen vs. Dwyane Wade, and Rajon Rondo vs. any freakin’ body that’s put in front of him (either Mike Bibby or Mario Chalmers).
• Jermaine O’Neal: He showed signs of making a playoff impact against the Knicks as his shot blocking and defense gave the team a lift in the first two games of the series. He will be a force.
• THE X FACTOR; Shaq. Shaquille O’Neal is rumored to return in this series vs. the Heat. I don’t expect him to be much of a force, but the psychological intimidation it provides could be a big one.