Wednesday’s stink. Hump day and everything that comes with it is just a waiting game. Just trying to get to other half of the work week in order to get to the weekend…especially during football season. Sure there are some early season NBA matchups that will be fun to watch and some College Basketball action. There’s even a few MAC college football games tonight, better known as MACtion.
Matchups Tonight:
As intriguing it will be to watch Tyree Jackson and the Buffalo Bulls try and win their 10th game for the 1st time in program history as +2.5 underdogs and +115 on the moneyline it doesn’t intrigue me as much as having both MAC division leaders clinch championship births on the same night. So I’m stuck figuring out who to watch because I had both Buffalo and Northern Illinois in the MAC Championship Game so I want to watch both.
#18 Michigan and #8 Villanova play in basketball tonight as a matchup between top 25 opponents. It should be a nice game to gauge if Villanova lost too much from last year or if they are reloading like the other top programs in the country. Michigan also lost some players but both programs have been relevant with their respective coaches in recent memory and should make this a competitive early season matchup. Villanova is favored by 7.0 points and are -320 on the moneyline as Michigan seems to be a nice pick at +260 and accompanied with the Buffalo Bulls +115 could make for a nice parlay.
Money Problems:
Many people have already seen the “Drama” with the Golden State Warriors. Is it overblown or a just criticism to say this is the most drama these Warriors have had to deal with during their dynastic run? When I look at the situation and what has been leaked about what was said, it seems obvious where the tension comes from. It seems Draymond knows what a few others out there can see:
If Kevin Durant signs a long term deal with the Warriors, Draymond is done with the Warriors.
It’s no secret that the Warriors have to make a decision with Draymond, Klay, and KD’s contract situations. If KD leaves, their decision-making process becomes clearer but if he wants to keep doing the 2 year with an option after 1 plan with the Warriors, that is going to cut into Draymond’s money and time with the team.
The Warriors have the bird rights to Steph, Livingston, Thompson, and Green (among others) and can use exceptions to keep them around when negotiating contracts. However, KD’s contract doesn’t hold many (if any) exceptions towards the luxury tax and therefore holds everything up when the Warriors look for long term solutions.
The word so far is KD is leaving when the year is over and it looks and sounds like Draymond wants to stay and the Warriors want to keep him around. Maybe there is just too many initial emotions involved right now or Green is being petty about some other things. What everyone knows is that Klay Thompson is an Unrestricted Free Agent at the end of the season and Draymond is scheduled to become one as well in 2020 (as well as Andre Iguodala & Shaun Livingston).
The Warriors’ front office has some pressure to try and make things work or just ride this year out with a Superteam and let Cousins and KD leave to another team or maybe they both go to LA with LeBron and the Lakers to defeat the Warriors (Obviously, the last point is a hypothetical I would love to see, not anything that’s been said already). Championship teams always end up being split up and money usually is the driving factor. I wouldn’t be too surprised if that is the case here and we may want to enjoy one last joyride with the Golden State Warriors as this could be the end of the dynasty as we know it.
Speaking of Money Problems
Le’Veon Bell has to go down as one of the worst teammates in the history of sports…(actually that title goes to Vontae Davis when he quit/retired at halftime of an NFL game this season). Regardless of my emotions about the situation, Bell has been very selfish to say the least. In the world that we live in where paying a professional athlete 14.5 million dollars isn’t enough to satisfy there wants and desires, here lies a guy that wants to make “QB money”.
LOL
What a joke. Le’Veon Bell left his teammates stranded so he could solidify a long-term deal and make the most money of any RB in NFL history. I understand the “wanting to make as much money as possible” train of thought but is that really ALL LE’VEON CARES ABOUT?!? The Steelers started the year out 1-2-1 and now sit at 6-2-1 and could easily be in the Super Bowl conversation. So playing on a team and making 14.5 million dollars in a year you could become a Super Bowl Champion isn’t enough to make a LOT of money elsewhere?
The most flawed part of this no brain logic is that he doesn’t want to play on a 1 year deal and risk injury. That’s understandable, except that one of the main reasons any team is skeptical (especially the Steelers) from paying him QB Money and giving him a long term deal can be attributed to injury concerns and missed time.
He missed 3 weeks his rookie season because of a foot injury, he has a surgically repaired knee from 2015 where he only played 6 games, he was suspended for 3 games in 2016, and throughout all of this he believes he’s irreplaceable in value. If the Steelers go on to win the division and make the playoffs, Bell’s value comparative to his team isn’t going to be very much. In fact, it only hurts him in negotiations with other teams because even though his numbers are great, James Conner was able to step right in and be successful as well.
Bell chose money. Plain and simple. He turned his back on his teammates and they are doing just fine without him. Any team that will be willing and able to pay him what he is looking for will probably be a team that is worse than the Steelers. Only then will we be able to see his true value and let’s hope he doesn’t get hurt for his new team in 2019.
End of the Road
Le’Veon Bell isn’t the only player in history to choose money over championships and quality teams. Few have managed to upset the masses with their decision making like Bell but ultimately the good players will sign with somebody. Which brings me to my train of thought on the matter when looking for comparisons and I’ve come up with this:
MINUS THE HOLDOUT AND MISSED SEASON, Le’Veon Bell is the Carmelo Anthony of the NFL
At least never sat out an entire season but his quality of play was never fully realized into a championship because Carmelo CHOSE MONEY over winning championships.
As Carmelo looks for a new home to play basketball after the Rockets basically determined they were better without him, one can only wonder why he never took less money or passed the ball more in order to win a ring or 2. Wade and LeBron did it with the Heat. Aren’t they supposed to be good friends?
When people say they want Carmelo to win one before he retires, I say why? He had plenty of chances. He wanted to stay in New York, Eat up the salary cap, and play selfish basketball which never attracted many other big Free Agents because everyone knew it was Carmelo’s team. I envision the same career coming from Le’Veon.
But at least Melo never turned his back on his teammates…even if he rarely passed them the ball.
-Jaracz
*https://www.bovada.lv/sports
**https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BellLe00.htm
***http://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nfl/news/steelers-leveon-bell-trade-rumors-asking-price-stats-fantasy-nfl-news/1esn30b5jlnf111btmscxxwrmy
****https://nypost.com/2018/11/11/carmelo-anthonys-rockets-tenure-is-already-bottoming-out/
*****https://thebiglead.com/2018/11/13/steve-kerr-sitting-draymond-green-versus-hawks-after-confrontation-with-kevin-durant/
******http://theopenman.com/2014/08/18/espn-mac-extend-tv-deal-10-years-10-great-maction-moments-celebrate/
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