Archive for the ‘Auto Racing’ Category

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: March 2, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, basketball, fantasy, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
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Stephen Curry sat out last nights games because of the left ankle he hurt on Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. With Curry out of the Warriors line up the game may not have went the way anyone expected it to go, but Golden State still got a win over the Atlanta Hawks 109-105 in overtime. It was the 6th win in a row for Golden State and they also stayed perfect at home (Oracle Arena) this season. The last loss Golden State had at home was January 27, 2015 (113-111) against the Chicago Bulls. Golden State was up 32-26 after the 1st quarter and extended the lead to 59-48 at halftime and it started to look like the Warriors would cruise to another home win. The Warriors managed just 16 3rd quarter points and Atlanta was able to cut the lead to 5 at 75-70. Of course since the game went into overtime it means that Atlanta outscored Golden State 27-22 in the 4th quarter. The Warriors put up 12 points in overtime to Atlanta’s 9 points to get the victory. With Curry out injured Klay Thompson stepped up to lead the Warriors in scoring with 26 points. While the Warriors have become known for “small ball” last night there center Andrew Bogut chipped in 19 points. Bogut made 8 of the 9 shots he took from the field. Draymond Green had   15 points and led the team on rebounds with 13 and assists with 9. Harrison Barnes was the 4th Warriors starter to score in double digits with 12 points. Marreese Speights added 10 points off of the Golden State bench. Speights went 2 for 2 from behind the 3-point line making both of them in the 4th quarter. Golden State turned to Shaun Livingston as a starter and Leandro Barbosa off the bench to help fill the void with Curry out. Livingston played the bulk of the minutes (34), but Barbosa added the offense with 11 points. Livingston added 6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assist and 2 steals in the game. Atlanta was led in scoring by Paul Milsap with 19 points. Al Horford and Dennis Schroder (off the bench) each had 17 points. Kent Bazemore had 15 points and tied with Horford for the team lead in rebounds with 9. Kyle Korver and Mike Scott each had 11 points and did their damage from behind the 3-point line. Korver went 3 of 6 while Scott was 3 of 5 from behind the 3-point line. Jeff Teague was the Hawks team leader in assists with 6.With the win Golden State improved to 54-5 on the season. Atlanta fell to 33-28 and are holding on to the #5 seed in the Eastern Conference right now. Atlanta will stay in California and play the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. Golden State will play host to Oklahoma City on Thursday. It’s a rematch of Saturday nights game that the Warriors won 121-118 in overtime.

If you’re playing daily fantasy or your fantasy league is still going on here are some of the guys I hope you had in your line up last night. D’Angelo Russell scored 39 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in the Lakers 170-101 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Brook Lopez had 23 points for the Nets in a losing effort. Damian Lillard had his 3rd consecutive 30 plus point night in a row scoring 30 points exactly as the Portland Trail Blazers cruise to a 104-85 win over the New York Knicks. Carmelo Anthony put up 23 points for the Knicks. Hassan Whiteside had 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls 129-111. Kemba Walker also had a 26 point night in the Charlotte Hornets 126-92 win over the Phoenix Suns. Wesley Matthews scored 21 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks as they beat the Orlando Magic 121-108. Ersan Ilyasova scored 22 for the Magic in the loss. Hopefully some of these guys where in your winning line up last night.

Jimmie Johnson used a pit strategy to win the 2nd race of the NASCAR season at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kevin Harvick had led the most laps and he appeared to have the car to beat, but Johnson pitted as soon as he could get enough gas in the car to make it to the end of the race. For some reason Harvick and the other drivers at the front of the field stayed on the race track longer than expected and with Johnson on new tires he was able to build a lead that no one could cut into. While there was a late caution giving the rest of the field a shot at Johnson; he took the inside lane and was able to hold the field off for the win. Johnson’s teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. came 2nd with Kyle Busch in 3rd his brother Kurt in 4th and Carl Edwards rounding out the Top 5. Harvick led 131 of the 330 laps, but ended up coming home in 6th place. Kyle Busch was one of Chris Olmstead’s choice on the Sunday morning edition of Sports Time Radio; so he did have a Top 5 finish. Now his other two choices; that’s a different story. Chris had Matt Kenseth who did lead 47 laps, but had a pit road penalty and then was black flagged. Even with all that Kenseth finished 19th. Kasey Kahne was Chris’ other choice and he never really factored in the race and came home in 23rd place. With 2 drivers locked into The Chase with wins the series heads out to Las Vegas for the Kobalt 400 Sunday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Will we have a new drivers name entered into The Chase or will Johnson or Denny Hamlin get their 2nd win of the season?

With a win last night the Edmonton Oilers improved to 24-34-7. With last nights loss the Buffalo Sabres are 23-31-8. Now neither of these teams are a threat to make the playoffs this season, but their match up last night drew some interest because it featured Connor McDavid the #1 overall pick in the 2015 draft taking on the #2 draft pick in the same draft Jack Eichel. The Oilers beat the Sabres 2-1 in overtime last night and McDavid scored both of the Edmonton goals in the win. It was almost Eichel who had the game winner in overtime as he spun an Oilers defenseman around, but missed a backhanded attempt on goal. Just seconds later McDavid raced by the Buffalo defense and beat Sabres goalie Robin Lehner for the game winner. While right now this match up might not mean anything as far as a playoff race might go, but are we looking at two guys who could become long term stars in the NHL.

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: February 24, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, MMA, sports, Uncategorized
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There have been a few projections and predictions released for the upcoming Major League Baseball season even though spring training has just started. From what I’ve seen a lot of people are back on the Cleveland Indians again. The Indians where a trendy pick last season and I believe it was Sports Illustrated that picked them to win the World Series. The Indians finished 81-80 last season good for 3rd in the American League Central, but  13 1/2 games behind the world champion Kansas City Royals. I’m trying to figure out what moves the Indians have made this off season to propel them into the playoffs. I’m not really into breaking teams down here, but let’s take a look at the Indians.

one through four in the starting rotation for the Indians is as good as just about any other team out there. Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer should give the Indians a chance to win just about every time they make a start. It should come down to Cody Anderson, Josh Tomlin or possible T.J. House for the 5th starter spot in the rotation. Cody Allen is a solid closer and Bryan Shaw is a good set up man, but getting the baseball to these two is where some of the bullpen issues may come up. Zach McAllister may have found a home in the bullpen, but he’ll need help in the middle relief role from Jeff Manship and veteran signings Tom Gorzelanny, Tommy Hunter and Joba Chamberlain. While pitching seems to look good for the Indians what about there everyday line up. The best player on the Indians and one of the more under rated ones in baseball is outfielder Michael Brantley and he’s injured. I’ve heard reports that Brantley might be ready for opening day and then there are reports that he’ll be out until May. Collin Cowgill looks to be the guy in line to fill in for Brantley, but Rajai Davis was signed as a free agent this off season and he may see some time in left field as well if Brantley is out. Abraham Almonte is scheduled to be the starting centerfielder. Almonte has played in 166 games over the last 3 seasons in the majors. Almonte is a career .244 career hitter, but did put up his best numbers with Cleveland at the end of last season. Almonte hit .264 with 5 home runs and had 5 triples in 51 games for Cleveland last season. Lonnie Chisenhall is going to be given a chance to be the everyday rightfielder. Giovanny Urshela is scheduled to be the everyday guy at 3rd base, but Juan Uribe was signed this week as insurance. Urshella got an 81 game look last season, but hit just .225. I don’t think Uribe can play everyday; so the Indians will have to get something out of Urshella to make something out of this position. Up the middle the Indians appear to be set. Francisco Lindor hit better at the major league level than he every did at any minor league stop. Can he do that again? Jason Kipnis bounced back after a down 2014 hitting .303, but his power number where still down as he hit just 9 home runs. The 1st base/Designated Hitter role looks like it will be split in some way shape or form between Carlos Santana and Mike Napoli. Santana looked to be on an upward career path, but the last 2 seasons he’s hit just .231, but his power numbers are still good. Santana has had 100 plus RBI’s the last 2 seasons and should be a 20-25 home run guy. Napoli struggled greatly wit the Boston Red Sox last season, but after being dealt to the Texas Rangers he hit much better. Napoli is a career .253 hitter, but he should give Cleveland another player who can hit 20-25 home runs. Catcher Yan Gomes is trying to comeback from a knee injury that limited him to just 95 games last season. Gomes was able to put up 12 home runs in his limited playing time, but his batting average fell to .231. Cleveland needs Gomes to get his average closer to his 2014 number of .278 when he was the full time catcher. Now this isn’t really an offense that should scare anybody and if Brantley misses the first month of the season they could start off in a hole. The pitching should be able to keep them in games, but will they win more games 2-1 or lose more games 3-2? If you’re an Indians fan out there reading this help me out and give me your take on the team.

Denny Hamlin won his first Daytona 500 and it was by the closet margin ever. Hamlin beat out Martin Truex Jr. by one-hundredth of a second. Sadly Hamlin wasn’t one of Chris Olmstead’s picks on the Sunday morning edition of Sports Time Radio. If was a rough week for Chris’ picks. Two of his picks Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Chase Elliott were involved in accidents and finished 35th and 36th respectively. His 3rd pick Jimmie Johnson got shuffled back on the last lap and finished in 16th place. Now it’s on to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. Chris will join us again Sunday morning to preview the race and make his picks.

The UFC had to do some juggling when Rafael dos Anjos had to withdraw from the main event against Connor McGregor after breaking his foot in training and the pay per view just a couple of weeks away. McGregor who is the champion at 145 was moving up to 155 to fight dos Anjos. Now McGregor is going to move up two weight classes to fight Nate Diaz at 170 pounds. While the fight will be non-title; it will be the main event for UFC 196. Diaz is 18-10 in his career but is coming off a win in his last fight. Diaz won a decision against Michael Johnson on December 19th. Had the dos Anjos bout held up, McGregor would have attempted to become the first fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold titles in multiple weight classes. He had expressed interest in eventually fighting for the promotion’s welterweight title as well. Diaz is a former lightweight title challenger. Diaz lost to then champion Benson Henderson by unanimous decision in December 2012. The other featured bout on UFC 196 is women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm facing off against Miesha Tate. It will be Holm’s first title defense since her stunning second round knockout of Ronda Rousey on November 15th.

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: February 17, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, basketball, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
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I hope you’re ready for the NASCAR season to start because this Sunday Chase Elliott will lead the field to the green flag on the pole for the Daytona 500. Elliott who’s a rookie and is taking over the #24 car from Jeff Gordon ran a lap of 196.314 m.p.h. just narrowly edging out Matt Kenseth who ran a lap of 196.036 m.p.h. and will start 2nd. Elliott who is just 20 years old used the same chassis as Gordon did last season and got the same result Gordon got last year; the pole position. Elliott and Kenseth are the only drivers whose positions for the Daytona 500 are now locked in. The balance of the field will be filled and ordered in Thursday night’s 150-mile Can-Am Duel qualifying races. Elliott’s first Sprint Cup pole was a milestone in many other respects. At 20 years, 2 months and 17 days, he is the youngest-ever winner of a Daytona 500 pole, supplanting Austin Dillon (23 years, 9 months 27 days in 2014). This was the 10th Daytona 500 pole for Hendrick Motorsports and the third for the #24 Chevrolet, with Gordon winning the previous two in 1999 and 2015.  The qualifying times of the #4 and #14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolets, driven by Kevin Harvick and Brian Vickers, were disallowed after NASCAR discovered track bar infractions during post-qualifying inspection. Those cars will start from the rear in their respective Duels. Another car with qualifying issues was The #78 Furniture Row Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. Truex Jr. failed to post a time after NASCAR inspectors noticed that one of the roof flaps was out of compliance. The car was on the 5-minute clock at the time and the problem could not be corrected in time to make a qualifying run. As a consequence, Truex will start from the rear of the field in the second Can-Am Duel. Chris Olmstead from http://www.BeyondtheFlag.com will join The Big Jack and Mr. Fantasy during the Sunday morning edition of Sports Time Radio to breakdown Sunday’s Daytona 500 and give you his Top 3 drivers you might see in victory lane.

The NBA doesn’t take the court for action until Thursday, but the trading deadline is also Thursday and we’ve had a couple of deals already. The Detroit Pistons sent Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova to the Orlando Magic for Tobias Harris. Both teams are currently out of playoff position and have been looking to get back in. With Harris, who is 23 and averaging 13.7 points and 7.0 rebounds this season, the Pistons get a young power forward with shooting range, but the team will also take on the rest of the 4-year, $64 million deal he signed last year. Detroit is 27-27, a 1/2 behind Charlotte in the competition for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons expect Harris to bolster their chances of reaching the postseason for the first time since 2009. The Magic, who had one of the youngest rosters in the league, get veterans to help with a run toward the playoffs, which 1st coach Scott Skiles has been pushing for in recent weeks. They are expected to have additional trade talks about adding more veteran players.

Bare with me here as there was also a 3-team deal and I’ll try to explain it the best I can. The Miami Heat received Brian Roberts from the Charlotte Hornets. The Memphis Grizzlies received Chris Andersen and a 2nd round pick from the Miami Heat. The Grizzlies also received P.J. Hairston and a 2nd round draft pick from the Charlotte Hornets. While Courtney Lee went from the Grizzlies to the Hornets. Okay; so Miami got 1-player, Charlotte got 1-player and Memphis got 2-players and 2-draft picks.

The question is will we see a big name player get dealt. Dwight Howard’s name has been mentioned quite a few times this week; so maybe he’s the guy to go. While it’s difficult to find a quality big man in the NBA is Howard the guy to get a playoff contender over the top. If Howard is dealt to an Eastern Conference team like most of the rumors are; can he help the team he’s traded to get past the Cleveland cavaliers in the playoffs? The other big name that may or may not be on the trading block is the Los Angeles Clippers Blake Griffin. There was a lot of talk about Griffin going to the New York Knicks for Carmelo Anthony, but Anthony has a no trade clause in his contract. Anthony also came out this week and said he won;t be going anywhere; so I’m guessing that deal isn’t going to happen. I really think that the best landing spot for Griffin would be the Cavaliers. A Griffin for Kevin Love deal might work well for both teams. The Cavaliers are looking to play a more up tempo style and Griffin would fit right into that. While Griffin isn’t the outside shooter that Love is he could take up some room in the paint and allow LeBron James to spend some more time on the perimeter. While Love might not look like the best fit for the Clippers style Imagine Chris Paul leading the break for Los Angeles and there’s nothing there. Love would be the perfect fit to trail that play and hit a 3-pointer in transition. Cleveland has said that they wouldn’t deal Love unless they got a star player in return and Griffin fits that bill. Love played his college basketball at UCLA and was born in Santa Monica, California. Would a return home to another contending team be alright with Love? Griffin could probably use a fresh start after his incident with the assistant equipment manager that saw Griffin break his hand. I guess we just have to wait and see if either team tries to make this deal before Thursday’s deadline.

Shayne Gostisbehere of the Philadelphia Flyers extended his record point streak by an NHL rookie defenseman to 13 games Tuesday with a first-period goal against the New Jersey Devils . Gostisbehere scored with 2:37 remaining in the period. Gostisbehere 13 game point streak is the second-longest in the NHL this season, behind the 26 games of Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane. It is the longest by an NHL defenseman in almost 20 years, since Brian Leetch had a 14-game streak for the New York Rangers.and the longest by any Flyers rookie. The longest point streak by an NHL rookie since 1987-88 is 20 games by forward Paul Stastny of the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado Rockies defenseman Barry Beck held the rookie defenseman record with two 10-game point streaks during the 1977-78 season.

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: November 18, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, fantasy, football, NASCAR, sports
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Week 10 in the NFL was not good to us pick wise. I believe we actually had the worse week we’ve ever had since we started making picks. Mr. Fantasy set a record for the worst week anyone has ever had going 3-1. Dan the Man, Schaumburg Stu and I where all under .500 as well finishing 6-8. Dan the Man has the overall lead with a record of 85-61. I have moved into 2nd place with a record of 80-66. Mr. Fantasy;s poor showing dropped him to 3rd a game behind me at 79-69 while Schaumburg Stu still finds himself in the cellar with a record of 77-69. We’ll see how Week 11 goes for us, but how could it be worse.

Major League Baseball started handing out awards starting with Rookie of the Year. Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs won the award for the National League. Bryant was a unanimous choice getting all 30 1st place votes. Matt Duffy of the San Francisco Giants finished 2nd getting 22 2nd place votes and 4 3rd place votes. Jung Ho Kang of the Pittsburgh Pirates finished 3rd getting 4 3rd place votes and 16 3rd place votes. New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard came in 4th picking up 3 2nd place votes and 4 3rd place votes. Miami Marlins 1st baseman Justin Bour picked up 1 2nd and 1 3rd place vote while Joc Pederson of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Steven Piscotty of the St. Louis cardinals each received 1 3rd place vote.

The American League Rookie of the Year voting was much closer, but in the end Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros took home the award.  Correa received 17 1st place votes and 13 2nd place votes just beating out Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians who received 13 1st place votes and 14 2nd place votes. Miguel Sano of the Minnesota Twins finished 3rd picked up 20 3rd place votes, Toronto Blue Jays closer Robert Osuna received 2 2nd and 2 3rd place votes to finish 4th. Billy Burns of the Oakland A’s received 1 2nd place and 3 3rd place votes. A second Twins played Eddie Rosario received 2 3rd place votes and Texas Rangers outfielder Delino DeShields received 1 3rd place vote.

MLB also handed out their Manager of the Year award. The Cubs made it 2 for 2 as Joe Maddon picked up the manager of the Year award in the National League. Maddon received 18 1st place votes 11 2nd place votes and 1 3rd place vote. Mike Matheny of the St. Louis cardinals finished 2nd getting 9 1st place votes 12 2nd place votes and 6 3rd place votes. Terry Collins pf the New York Mets finished 3rd in the voting getting 3 1st place votes 7 2nd place votes and 13 3rd place votes. Clint Hurdle of the Pittsburgh Pirates picked up 8 3rd place votes while Bruce Bochy of the San Francisco Giants and Don Mattingly of the Los Angeles Dodgers each received 1 3rd place vote.

In the American League 1st year skipper Jeff Bannister of the Texas Rangers took home the American League Manager of the Year award, Bannister received 17 1st place votes 8 2nd place votes and 3 3rd place votes. A.J. Hinch of the Houston Astros finished 2nd in the voting getting 8 1st place votes 13 2nd place votes and 3 3rd place votes. Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor finished 3rd in the voting picking up 2 1st place votes 3 2nd place votes and 14 3rd place votes. John Gibbons of the Toronto Blue Jays received 1 1st place vote 5 2nd place votes and 2 3rd place votes. New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi received 2 1st place and 2 3rd place votes. Ned Yost the manager of the World Series champion Kansas City Royals received 1 2nd place vote and 5 3rd place votes while Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim got 1 3rd place vote.

Today MLB will announce the Cy Young award winners. In the National League the Chicago Cubs will try to go 3 for 3 as Jake Arrieta is up for the award. Arrieta is going up against two pitchers from the Los Angeles Dodgers as Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke are both up for the award. Over in the American League Sonny Gray of the Oakland A’s, David Price of the Toronto Blue Jays and Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros are the 3 finalist for the award.

On Thursday MLB will announce the Most Valuable Player winners from each league. In the National League the 3 finalist are Bryce harper of the Washington Nationals, Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds and Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The American League finalist are Josh Donaldson of the Toronto Blue Jays, Lorenzo Cain of the Kansas City Royals and Mike Tout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

It’s down to 1 race and 4 drivers in the NASCAR season. Sunday afternoon NASCAR runs the Ford Ecoboost 400 at Homestead-Miami speedway where they will crown the 2015 Sprint Cup champion. Martin Truex Jr. Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and defending champion Kevin Harvick are in the running to take home the title. Each driver has a story to go with his shot at winning. Harvick’s is obvious as he tries to go back to back with titles. Truex Jr. is a single car team competing with the larger multiple car teams. Busch missed 11 races after crashing during the first Xfinity race of the season. Gordon may be the sentimental favorite as this is the final race of a great career for Gordon in the #24 car. I’m not sure if NASCAR could’ve gotten four better stories for the championship race. Who are you rooting for?

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: November 4, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, fantasy, football, hockey
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Week 8 went well for me in our group picks as I won the week with a 10-4 record. Dan the Man was 8-6 while Schaumburg Stu was 7-7. Mr. Fantasy had a sub .500 week at 6-8. Overall Dan the Man is in the lead at 72-47. Mr. Fantasy is in 2nd at 69-50. I am a game behind him in 3rd at 68-51 while Schaumburg Stu is in the cellar at 63-54, Will have to see what Week 9 has in store for us.

I was very disappointed to see that NASCAR has suspended Matt Kenseth for the next 2 races for the incident Sunday in which it appears that Kenseth wrecked Joey Logano intentionally. Don’t forget that Logano spun Kenseth out a couple of races ago and pretty much eliminated him from The Chase. Logano wasn’t penalized for what he did, but Kenseth gets 2 races for getting even. .Moments after the ruling was issued, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Kenseth would appeal the penalty. NASCAR announced it would expedite the appeals process and the National Motorsports Appeals Panel has set the appeal for Thursday morning at 9 am est in Concord, North Carolina. Very rarely are these penalties are rarely overturned or even altered; so I expect this to be upheld and for Kenseth to have to sit the next 2 races.  Kenseth and Logano wrecked on Lap 454 of the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500, with Kenseth’s No. 20 entry making heavy contact with Logano’s Team Penske No. 22 Ford. The collision carried both cars into the Turn 1 wall, severely damaging both. The run-in was the latest chapter in escalating tensions between the two rivals during the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. Though Kenseth attempted to blame the crash on a deflated tire or mechanical issue, the altercation was widely perceived to be retaliation for hard racing between the two in recent weeks.

Logano now finds himself 8th out of 8 drivers 38 points behind leader Jeff Gordon and 28 points out of the Top 4 where he’ll have to be to move to the championship round. Logano has this week at the Texas Motor Speedway (AAA Texas 500) and next week at the Phoenix International Raceway (Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500) to get into the Top 4. A win at either track will advance Logano automatically into the championship race. The season ends Sunday, November 22nd with the Ford Ecoboost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Does Logano have t get a win in one of these next 2 races to advance? or can he point his way back into the Top 4?

Has there been a more disappointing team in the NFL this season than the 3-5 Indianapolis Colts? The frightening thing is the fact that the Colts are actually tied for 1st place in the AFC South with the Houston Texans. Now someone is always going to end up losing there job when a team that was expected to be good isn’t and yesterday the Colts fired offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton. The team’s associate head coach Rob Chudzinski will assume Hamilton’s job. Will see what Chudzinski tries to do differently with the Colts offense, but it’s not the best week for him to take that unit over. Indianapolis plays host to what may be the best defense in the NFL as the undefeated (7-0) Denver Broncos come to town. Denver is giving up 89.3 rushing yards per game good for 4th in the NFL. They lead the lead in least passing yards given up at 171.9 yards per game and total yards given up at 261.1 per game. Indianapolis ranks 24th in rushing and 14th in passing; so what will the Colts have for the Denver defense. Luck has struggled this season completing 54.9% of his passes this season. Luck has 13 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions; he has also been sacked 14 times this season. There have been reports that Luck is playing with fractured ribs. Now it would be difficult for the fully healthy Andrew Luck to put up big numbers against this Broncos defense. How is an Andrew Luck playing hurt going to do against that defense.

The injuries really piled up in Week 8 of the NFL season and some key players where lost for the season. The Pittsburgh Steelers lost running back Le’Veon Bell for the season with a knee injury. Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith torn his Achilles and is done for the season. The San Francisco 49ers where already missing #1 running back Carlos Hyde last week when his back up veteran Reggie Bush torn his ACL and was lost for the season when he slipped on the concrete out of bounds on Sunday. There was also Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Ricardo Lockette. While covering a punt Lockette was blocked by Jeff Heath of the Dallas Cowboys. Lockette laid motionless on the field for quite a while before being carted off. Lockette ended up wit a concussion and a sore neck. Detroit Lions wide receiver injured an ankle making a catch Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs in the London game. Johnson left with about 10 minutes to go in the game and didn’t return. New Orleans Saints running back Khiry Robinson was carted off the field during his teams game against the New York Giants. It was reported that Robinson has a broken leg and will miss the rest of the season. Also in that game Giants tight end Larry Donnell injured his neck. The Chicago Bears lost wide receiver Eddie Royal and running back Matt Forte with knee injuries. Forte has been ruled out for Week 9; there;s no report on Royal yet. The New York Jets had both of their quarterbacks get banged up against the Oakland raiders last Sunday. Ryan Fitzpatrick left the game with what turned out to be torn ligament in his left (non-throwing) hand. Geno Smith came into relieve Fitzpatrick and he had to leave the game with injuries to his left shoulder and abdomen. I’m sure a lot of these injuries have fantasy owners scrambling to find players.

Connor McDavid was the #1 pick in last years NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers. Last night McDavid suffered a broke collarbone in the  Oilers 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers were leading 2-1 with 1:44 remaining in the second period when McDavid had a partial short-handed breakaway. Philadelphia defenseman  Michael Del Zotto and Brandon Manning met McDavid on his way to the net and all 3 fell awkwardly to the ice and went crashing into the boards. McDavid left the ice favouring his left shoulder. He was seen wearing a sling in the hallway behind the dressing room and did not return for the third period. Being that it’s the NHL all Edmonton’s coach Todd McLellan said “He’s got an upper-body injury that is going to keep him out long term,” it was later reported that McDavid had a broken collarbone. While Edmonton wasn’t expected to be a playoff team this season it’s tough to lose your top rookie who has been playing well. McDavid was off to a solid start for the Oilers, registering 12 points in his first 12 games and was named the rookie of the month for October.

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How was your Week?

Posted: September 30, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball
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Week 3 in the NFL seems to have gotten us on track with our picks as we all where into double digits with correct picks. Dan the Man won the week going 13-3. Mr. Fantasy and I where a game behind at 12-4 while Schaumburg Stu finished at 10-6. Mr. fantasy has retaken the overall lead at 29-19. Dan the Man has moved into 2nd place with a record of 28-20. Schaumburg Stu is in 3rd with a record of 27-21 while I am still in last place with my record of 25-23. Let’s see if we can continue our wining ways going into Week 4.

In NASCAR The Chase is two weeks old and the two drivers moving into the 2nd round by winning races are both from Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). Two weeks ago at Chicagoland Denny Hamlin (#11) picked up the win to advance and last week at New Hampshire it was Matt Kenseth (#20) who found his way into victory lane and punched his ticket to the Contender Round. There’s 1 more automatic bid at stake as the drivers go to Dover International Speedway. Now after Dover the 4 lowest drivers will be eliminated from The Chase and there are some interesting names that are in trouble. There is a chance tat at the end of the race this weekend we’ll see Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Dan the Man’s favorite driver Clint Bowyer all gone from The Chase, It looked like Harvick was going to win his way into the 2nd round, but ran out of gas while leading the race allowing Kenseth to go by him for the win. Don’t forget that Harvick had an incident with Jimmie Johnson at Chicagoland. Harvick ended up blowing a tire after his and Johnson cars touched and ended up finishing 42nd. Harvick hung on to finish 21st last week in New Hampshire and finds himself in almost a must win situation t advance. Bowyer is also looking at a must win to move on situation heading into Dover, but not because of anything that happened on the racetrack. Bowyer’s car failed inspection at Chicagoland and NASCAR penalized him 25 points and suspended his crew chief. Bowyer and his team are appealing the penalties, but the points are listed in The Chase standings. Busch’s Chase got off to a good start with a 9th place finish in Chicagoland, but had an accident last week in New Hampshire and finished 37th. Busch isn’t in as dire of a situation as Harvick and Bowyer find themselves in, but he’ll need a good finish to move into the 2nd round. Earnhardt Jr. would move on to round 2 with the standings the way they are right now, but he’s only a few points ahead of that 13th spot and if he has a bad finish he could fins himself out of The Chase. Earnhardt had a good 12th place finish in Chicagoland and last week finished 25th. It would be difficult to see drivers like Earnhardt Jr, Harvick, Busch and Bowyer gone from The Chase, but that’s what makes this format exciting.

If you’re a baseball fan you’e probably heard the term good pitching beats good hitting. This statement is really suppose to apply in the playoffs. With the National League playoffs pretty much set which team has that good pitching to move along. Now the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates will have to use one of their top pitchers just to move into the Division Series when the face each other in the Wild Card game. Most teams will go to a 4 man rotation; so let’s look and see who might be in the best position rotation wise.

The Pirates would probably go with Gerrit Cole in the Wild Card game and if they win they’d go to Francisco Liriano followed by A.J. Burnett. That gives the Pirates a solid 1, 2, 3 and then they would have their choice of Charlie Morton or left-handers J.A. Happ or Jeff Locke. That’s not a bad playoff rotation.

I think everyone in the Chicago area would let out a collective groan if Jake Arrieta doesn’t start the Wild Card game. If the Cubs where to move on they’d have Jon Lester ready for Game 1 of the NLDS. After that it gets dicey for the Cubs. Kyle Hendricks is coming off a good outing on Monday against the Kansas City Royals. That performance may have given Hendricks a leg up over veterans Jason Hammel and Dan Haren, but which ever way the Cubs choose t go it could get interesting.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best 1, 2 starting pitching combination in baseball with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke after that who knows. Veteran Brett Anderson has put up solid numbers this season; so you’d think he might be #3 in the rotation. Then is it Mike Bolsinger, Alex Wood or Carlos Frias making that next start.

With the season ending injury to Carlos Martinez it seems as though the St. Louis Cardinals just have to decide what order they’re going t throw their pitchers in. Cardinals opponents should see Michael Wacha, John Lackey, Lance Lynn and Jamie Garcia in some order. The decision for the Cardinals is what to do with the returning Adam Wainwright. Wainwright is going to work out of the bullpen for the remainder of the regular season and maybe he won’t be stretched out enough to start a game, but is he is do the Cardinals plug him into the rotation or stick with the pitchers who got them here.

While the Cardinals look to have a very good situation as far as starting pitching goes the New York Mets may have even a better one. The Mets have Matt Harvey, Jacob deGroom and Noah Syndergaard set and ready to go. The Mets have some very good choices for that 4th spot. They could go with a solid veteran like Bartolo Colon or someone like Jon Niese, but there’s also young left-hander Steven Matz. While the sample size on Matz is small just 6 starts; he is 4-0 with an ERA of 2.27. Where will the Mets go?

Is there a pitcher out there who can go on a run like Madison Bumgarner did in the post season last year for the San Francisco Giants on their way to a World Series win. Either way it’s the post season and it should be exciting.

Listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast at BlogTalkRadio.com

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your Week?

Posted: August 1, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, football, NASCAR, sports
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Right before their first training camp practice the Seattle Seahawks announced they had signed quarterback Russell Wilson to a 4 year, $87.5 million dollar contract. Wilson was entering the final year of his four-year, $3 million rookie contract. Wilson’s rookie contract did not include a fifth-year option because he wasn’t a first-round pick. Because of that, Seattle would have had to use the franchise tag on him in 2016 currently projected at more than $25 million; if no extension had been signed by then. $31 million in Wilson’s new deal s a signing bonus and $60 million is guaranteed. In 2014, Wilson completed 285 of 452 passes (63.1 percent) for 3,475 yards with 20 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. He also rushed for 849 yards and six more touchdowns. The Seahawks have a 36-12 record through three seasons with Wilson at the helm, no quarterback in NFL history has helped his team win more games. Wilson’s career numbers match up very well with the best quarterbacks in the NFL over the last three years. He’s one of six quarterbacks with at least 9,000 passing yards, 60 touchdowns and 500 rushing yards during that time frame. Now that Wilson is signing and being paid well; the Seahawks may have to deal with the issues of trying to pay all their other key players enough to keep the team a championship contender. In some cases these issues may have already started on the defensive side of the football of the Seahawks. Kam Chancellor was a no show for the opening of camp. Chancellor’s holdout is due to him being unhappy with the compensation in his contract signed before the 2013 season that will pay him $4.5 million in 2015. There was some reports that 2 other Seattle defensive players might skip the start of training camp, but both defensive lineman Michael Bennett and linebacker Bobby Wagner were there for the opening of camp. Bennett has been the most vocal about his contract. Bennett is hoping his versatility along the defensive line will merit a pay raise from the Seahawks. Bennett has lined up at both defensive end positions and defensive tackle at various times during his two seasons with the Seahawks. It looks like both Chancellor and Bennett will have to wait until Wagner is signed to a new deal before they can get one. All reports seem to point to Wagner being the next in line. He was an All-Pro last season despite missing five games with a painful toe injury and has been Seattle’s starting middle linebacker since being a second-round pick in 2012. After back to back Super Bowl appearances it looks like it’s time for Seattle’s top players to get paid.

With NFL training camps open it’s time to start looking forward to your fantasy football draft. Now last season all the experts had 2014 pegged as the year of the running back, but that didn’t really came to pass. What will this season be called? Now there are still top running backs out there, but will it be suggested that you need to grab one in the 1st round to be competitive in our league. How many running backs will be considered elite heading into your draft? 6, 7 or maybe 8 at the most. There are your Jamaal Charles (Chiefs). LeShon McCoy (Bills) Matt Forte (Bears), Eddie Lacy (Packers) and even though he’ll be suspended to start the season I think you have to count Le’Von Bell (Steelers) and I can’t forget Marshawn Lynch (Seahawks). After that you’ll have to make some choices. Will DeMarco Murray repeat his success with Philadelphia? Does Arian Foster have another good fantasy season in him with Houston? Of course the biggest running back question may be; what will Adrian Peterson give you after missing almost the entire 2014 season? Now there may be some new running backs moving up that you’ll be able to find a little later in your draft. Players like Carlos Hyde (49ers), will C.J. Anderson (Broncos) take over the #1 role in Denver. Todd Gurley (Rams) and Melvin Gordon (Chargers) were both 1st round picks and are expected to take lead backfield roles for their teams. Latavius Murray (Raiders) showed some potential last season and it looks like Mark Ingram (Saints) is the lead running back; finally. One of the bigger surprises a fantasy owner may get this season if he can actually find a way to stay healthy is  Darren McFadden (Cowboys). McFadden looks like he’ll get to line up behind the best offensive line in the NFL, but that big if will him has always been can he play 16 games. Fantasy owners should have a little over a month to figure this out before the season gets rolling along. Of course will have the pre-season to look at guys and try to find sleepers, but what I want to know is are you taking a running back in the 1st round this season?

I’ve been trying to stay away from discussing the Tom Brady suspension, but I do have some questions that I’m guessing will never be answered. How does deflating footballs get you suspended for more games than getting arrested for smoking pot? Brady got 4 games and Le’Von Bell had his suspension reduce to 2 games for his arrest. I think the biggest oddity is the fact that Greg Hardy was convicted; appealed that conviction and was found innocent when the victim couldn’t be found to testify and reports came out that her and Hardy reached a monetary settlement. Sadly I’m drawing a blank on what the original conviction was, but I believe it was a pretty violent encounter. Hardy was on the exempt list for all but 1 game last season and he was then suspended for 10 games this coming season. After his appeal; was by the NFL that suspension was reduce to 2 games. After reading all of that remember that Brady got 4 games for deflating footballs.

I want to remind everyone that tomorrow (Sunday) on Sports Time Radio Chris Olmstead from BeyondtheFlag.com will join me on the podcast to preview the Windows 10 400 at Pocono Speedway. Brad Keselowski had the fastest practice time yesterday, but will that be enough for Chris to pick him as one of his three drivers who might end up in victory lane?

Listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: July 29, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, NASCAR
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We’re coming up on the trade deadline and there’s been quite a bit of activity with some of the bigger names changing teams. The Kansas City Royals made 2 big moves that should position them as the favorite in the American League. First the Royals went out and picked up Johnny Cueto and cash from the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati received 3 young pitchers in return Brandon Finnegan. Cody Reed and John Lamb. Kansas City then went out and picked up utility man  Ben Zobrist and cash from the Oakland A’s for 2 minor league pitchers Aaron Brooks and Sean Manaea.

The New York Mets had made a move earlier to get a couple of hitters, but then they went out and tried to shore up their bullpen acquiring Tyler Clippard from the A’s in return for minor league pitcher Casey Meisner.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim seem to be stocking up on outfielders as they picked up 3. First they got Shane Victorino and cash from the Boston Red Sox for infielder Josh Rutledge. Then they picked up David DeJesus from the Tampa Bay Rays for minor league pitcher Eduar Lopez. Then they also added David Murphy from the Cleveland Indians for minor league shortstop Eric Stamets. I was wondering why the Angels where picking up all of these outfielders, but then I saw that Matt Joyce was placed on the 7-day disabled list with a concussion and there have been reports that Mike Trout has a hand or a wrist issue.

The Washington Nationals acquired closer Jonathan Papelbon from the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league pitcher Nick Pivetta. Papelbon will take over closers duties for the Nationals and Drew Storen will be put into a set up role.

The Toronto Blue Jays may have made the biggest splash in the trade market as they picked up shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and reliever LaTroy Hawkins from the Colorado Rockies for shortstop Jose Reyes and 3 pitchers Miguel Castro, Jeff Hoffman and Jesus Tinoco.

As you can see some of the bigger names that were mentioned have now switched teams, but there is still one left; Cole Hamels! I saw a report that the Phillies have asked for every teams best offer today; so they can look at them and decide if they will deal Hamels. It appears as though the Phillies came way down on their demands for Papelbon as they took a Double-A reliever in return. The Phillies have had a very large asking price for Hamels; so we’ll see if it comes down as the trade deadline gets closer. While I wasn’t surprised to see Tulowitzki finally get traded I was surprised that Toronto was the team that acquired him. I was very disappointed in Tulowitzki’s reaction as he was leaving Colorado. He had mentioned that while he didn’t have a no trade clause in his contract he had a handshake agreement with the Rockies owner that they would run any trade by him before making it. Now the Rockies didn’t have a chance to discuss this deal with Tulowitzki as he was on the field playing against the Chicago Cubs. Tulowitzki was removed from the game after the trade was completed and he made his statement about being disappointed after he was dealt. Sorry, but Tulowitzki needs to get over it. Where they suppose to wait until after the game to make the deal; so they could speak to him about it. Colorado made Tulowitzki a very wealthy man and dealt with all of his injury issues for a very, very long time. It’s not like they went back on their word they where just in a situation were they couldn’t attempt to do what they had told him they would do. On top of it all he’s going form the team that was in last place in the N.L. West to a team that is currently 3 games out of a wild card spot in the American League. Now if Hamels isn’t the next big chip to move who is? Could Cincinnati continue to move pieces and deal  Aroldis Chapman. Some other Reds names have come up like Mike Leake, Jay Bruce and even Todd Frazier as possibly being traded. Another interesting team could be the San Diego Padres. Will they breakdown and deal some of the parts they acquired this off season as it seems it hasn’t worked out for them. The Milwaukee Brewers could be another team with players to deal. Would some be interested in adding Francisco Rodriquez to their bullpen or how about an outfielder like Gerardo Parra. Carlos Gomez name has even come up in some trade talks, but would the Brewers move him. The Detroit Tigers seem to be on the fence on if they’re buyers or sellers this trade deadline, but they’re going to have to decide very quickly as we only have a couple of days left to make deals. These last few days before the trade deadline should be interesting to watch. I’m sure I missed some players who might be moved, but hopefully I got close to covering some of them.

This past Sunday NASCAR held their race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and believe it or not Kyle Busch found a way to win his 3rd race in a row and his 4th race out of the last 5. It’s been a pretty magical run for Busch, but oddly he’s still not qualified for The Chase just yet. It might be more of a shock if Busch didn’t get into The Chase with the way he’s been driving, but right now he’s 32nd in the driver standings. Busch has to be in the Top 30 to qualify for The Chase; he is currently 23 points out of 30th place. This week the race is the Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway. Can Busch make it 4 in a row or will someone else find their way into victory lane. We’ll preview this race with Chris Olmstead from BeyondTheFlag.com on the Sunday morning edition of Sports Time Radio. I’ve had a couple of people ask me this; so here it is. NASCAR stands for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. 

You can listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: June 3, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, basketball, hockey, NASCAR, sports
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Chris Olmstead from Beyond the Flag was on the podcast Sunday morning and one of his picks to go to victory lane was Jimmie Johnson. Earlier in the week I had heard one of the Waltrip brothers mention that he thought there might be some troubles on the #48 team. He specifically mentioned what he thought was an issue between Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knaus. I guess whatever issues there n=might or might not have been it all worked out Sunday. Johnson didn’t have a great car early in the race, but it came around when it matter and he led the last 23 laps on his way to his 4th victory of the season. Kevin Harvick finished 2nd, Kyle Larson was 3rd, Kasey Kahne finished 4th and rounding out the Top 5 was  Aric Almirola. We’re halfway through the NASCAR regular season and the circuit still has to go to Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway twice. There are still 2 road course races at Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International. There’s also a stop at the newest track on the schedule Kentucky Speedway just to go over a few of the races left on the schedule.

Is there anyone out there really surprised that Adrian Peterson showed up at Minnesota Vikings O.T.A.’s this week. I like the statement Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer made when he more or less said that Peterson could play for the Vikings or not play at all. Peterson and his representatives have done a lot of crying this off season as they tried to force the Vikings to trade him. Minnesota held it’s ground and it looks like Peterson will be in a Vikings uniform for the 2015/16 season. Once Week 1 rolls around Peterson’s salary of $12.75 million dollars will be guaranteed. Peterson is trying to get the last 2 years of his deal guaranteed, but that’s brought even more criticism from fans who believed he should be grateful for the organization’s continued support after his legal troubles. This story is just getting started; so I’m sure will hear a lot more complaining if not from Peterson himself, but from the people who represent him.

Are you ready for the Stanley Cup Finals to get started? They’ll drop the puck tonight in Tampa Bay for Game 1 at 7:00 p.m. Central time. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville did quite a bit of line juggling in the Western conference finals against the Anaheim Ducks and you have to wonder if he’ll match up his 4th line of Marcus Kruger, Andrew Desjardins and Andrew Shaw against the Tampa Bay Lighting’s triplet line of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov. I would think that the 1st lines will match up against each other. We should see Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad match up with Steven Stamkos, Valtteri Filppula and Alex Killorn. Patrick Kane did skate with Toews during Game 7 of the conference finals; so we’ll have to see if the Blackhawks will continue to keep them together. Tampa Bay will have to decide if they’ll try to match their top defensive pairing of Anton Stralman and Victor Hedman against the line with Kane on it or the Blackhawks top line with Toews on it. The defensive pairings are easier for the Blackhawks just for the fact that Duncan Keith is always on the ice. Keith is normally paired with the underrated Niklas Hjalmarsson, but did skate with Brent Seabrook in the conference finals. The Blackhawks other 3 defenseman Kimmo Timonen, Kyle Cumiskey and Johnny Oduya really need to step up and help the Blackhawks defense. Hedman and Stralman have been getting quite a bit of ice time for Tampa Bay and the Lighting will need their other 4 defenseman Jason Garrison, Braydon Coburn, Matt Carle and Andrej Sustr to factor in this series. Defense and goaltending should become more important as a lot of experts are predicting and offensive series with lots of goal scoring.

How do you feel about Tampa Bay trying to prevent Blackhawks fans from getting tickets to the games in Tampa Bay. They’ve even went so far as to say that you won’t be able to wear Blackhawks gear in the bars and restaurant at Amalie Arena. This has always seemed kind of stupid to me and Dan the Man is convinced that teams do it just for the publicity. The Nashville Predators have been trying to do this with Blackhawks fans for a few seasons now and there still seem to be a good amount of Blackhawks fans at those games. I’m pretty sure when the puck drop for Game 1 and Game 2 in Tampa bay there will be plenty of Blackhawks fans in attendance.

Thursday night the NBA Finals tip off at Oracle Arena as the Golden State Warriors host the Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden State received the best news it probably could’ve gotten as Klay Thompson was medically to play in Game 1. Thompson took a knee to the head in the clinching game against the Houston Rockets and was diagnosed with a concussion. Thompson was diagnosed with the concussion last Friday and missed two days of practice. He returned to the court on Monday and has been symptom free. Thompson completed the NBA’s concussion protocol and will be ready to play on Thursday night. With Thompson being cleared to play both teams should be at full strength. The Cavaliers will of course be missing Kevin Love, but Kyrie Irving should be close to if not 100% for Thursday nights game. 

To no surprise at all the Chicago Bulls hired Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg to replace Tom Thibodeau as their head coach. Hoiberg received a 5 years $25 million dollar contract from the Bulls. Hoiberg went 115-56 at Iowa State and led the Cyclones to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and back-to-back Big 12 tournament titles. Hoiberg had a 10 year NBA career including 4 seasons with the Bulls. Hoiberg had career averages of 5.4 points per game, 1.6 assists per game and 2.7 rebounds per game. It also looks like the Bulls will get their wish and Thibodeau won’t be getting an NBA head coaching job next season. The Bulls plan all along was to try and shut Thibodeau out of any open head coaching positions and right now only the Denver Nuggets are in the market for a head coach and I don;t believe Thibodeau’s name has been mentioned. It’s was petty of the Bulls to do that to Thibodeau even of they didn’t like him or couldn’t get along with him, but sadly they weren’t above being childish. Thibodeau is due to receive $9 million over the next couple of seasons from the Bulls which was another reason I thought the Bulls would like to see him get another head coaching job. Unless something else opens up or the Nuggets come calling Thibodeau will either have to take an assistant coaching job or sit out and wait for an NBA head coaching opening.

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: May 27, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, basketball, hockey, NASCAR, sports
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The Cleveland Cavaliers easily won Game 4 of the Eastern conference finals to sweep the Atlanta Hawks out of the NBA playoffs. While I wasn’t surprised to see the Cavaliers win this series as I like a lot of people had them going to the NBA finals, but I was a little surprised they swept this series. Atlanta was the best team in the Eastern conference during the regular season and I thought they would find a way to win a game or two in this series. Game 4 ended up being the biggest blowout of the series a 30 Cleveland win 118-88. The Cavaliers took a 12 point lead at the end of the 1st quarter 32-20 and that was pretty much the end of the Hawks. Cleveland added 5 points to their lead going into the half at 59-42. The Cavaliers just kept pulling away as they added 8 points to their lead by the end of the 3rd quarter 85-60 and even in the 4th quarter when the game was pretty much decided the Cavaliers still added another 5 points to their lead to get to that 118-88 final score. LeBron James led the Cavaliers in scoring with 23 points, but 5 other Cleveland players scored in double figures. J.R, Smith scored 18 points, Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson scored 16 points, Timofey Mozgov had 14 points and Matthew Dellavedova added 10 points for Cleveland. Thompson pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers and Smith also grabbed 10 rebounds in the Game 4. James lead the Cavaliers with 7 assists. Irving was returning from injury and played just under 22 minutes and it was good for Cleveland to get him into a game before the finals. There was a lot of talk of if he should play or if the Cavaliers should just hold him out until the finals started. As long as Irving came out of Game 4 healthy it was the best thing for him to get a game and some minutes under his belt before the NBA finals start. Jeff Teague led Atlanta in scoring with 17 points in Game 4. Paul Millsap had 16 points and 10 rebounds 8 assists while Kent Bazemore had 12 points and 8 assists, Shelvin Mack and John Jenkins both added 10 points for Atlanta. With Kyle Korver missing Game 4 with an injury Atlanta shot 15.6 % from behind the 3 point line going 5 for 32. The only Atlanta player to make more than one 3 pointer was Jenkins and he had 2. It was a rough end for a team like Atlanta that played so well during the regular season and this will just add to the playoff failures the Hawks have had over the years.

The first chance for Cleveland to learn who it’s finals opponent might be is Friday. Game 5 between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets tips off at 8:00 p.m. Central time on ESPN with the Warriors leading the series 3 games to 1 and looking to close it out. I’m sure every Golden State fan was relieved to see Stephan Curry come back on the court and play some minutes after the horrible fall he took earlier in Game 4. This was another situation where there was talk of if Curry should’ve returned to the game. I don;t see it being any issues as long as he was medically cleared to return to the game by  a doctor. You’d have to think if Curry isn’t have any lingering issues from the fall you have to think they’ll be able to close out the Rockets tonight, but Houston did come back from being down 3-1 to the Los Angeles Clippers in their last series. Not that my predictions ever work out; so sorry Warriors fans, but I’m taking them to win on Friday.

NASCAR had it’s longest race of the season last Sunday. It was the Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Carl Edwards used a fuel mileage strategy to get a win and propel himself and his Joe Gibbs Racing #19 into The Chase. Greg Biffle also running a fuel mileage strategy had his best finish of the season finishing 2nd. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 3rd, Matt Kenseth finished 4th and Martin Truex Jr. led the most laps (131) during the race, but came in 5th. Now I’m a fan of NASCAR, but I have to say that I don’t enjoy the races that are won with fuel mileage. I understand that strategy is all part of NASCAR and wins are of the up most importance with The Chase set up, but I didn’t enjoy it. NASCAR has had 9 different winners so far this season; so those 9 drivers look good for The Chase. Now the Sprint Cup series goes to Dover International Speedway this Sunday for the Fed-Ex 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks. Will there be a repeat winner? or will NASCAR get it’s 10th different winner this season?

There were a couple of other races on Sunday. Juan Pablo Montoya won the Indianapolis 500 trading the lead with Will Power a few times late in the race before he pulled away for the win. Power had to settle for 2nd place. The F1 series had the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday and for the 3rd consecutive year  Nico Rosberg won. It appeared that Lewis Hamilton was on his way to victory in Monaco, but some poor strategy cost him and he ended up in 3rd place. Besides Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel was the other driver to take advantage of Hamilton’s issues and finished 2nd. I saw very little of the Monaco Grand Prix, but I did get to see quite a bit of the Indianapolis 500. Did you watch ither race? or are you a fan of either of these racing series?

The New York Rangers evened their series with the Tampa Bay Lighting last night with a 7-3 victory. The win by the Rangers forces a Game 7 for this series Friday night at 7:00 p.m. Central time. New York had a 2-1 lead going into the 3rd period and then out scored the Lighting 5 to 2 in that 3rd period to pull away for the win.  Derick Brassard had a hat trick for the Rangers scoring the 1st, 5th and final goals. Nikita Kucherov had both of the Tampa Bay goals in the 3rd period. We’ll see if the Chicago Blackhawks can extend their series against the Anaheim Ducks tonight. Anaheim leads the series 3 games to 2 with Game 6 being played tonight in Chicago. The Game is on the NBC Sports Network starting at 7:00 p.m. Central time. Will we get two Game 7’s in the NHL conference finals?

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast at BlogTalkRadio.com

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