Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: January 11, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, football, sports
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The NFL is into the playoffs and they started last Saturday with wild card weekend. So since there where games we made picks. Schaumburg Stu and I went 4-0 for the first weekend of the playoffs while Dan the Man and Mr. Fantasy went 3-1. Dan the Man thought the Oakland raiders would get a win with 3rd string quarterback Connor Cook under center while Mr. Fantasy’s loss was the Miami Dolphins.

Now we’re into the divisional round. There again are 4 games. Two on Saturday and two on Sunday. Saturday starts with the Seattle Seahawks at the Atlanta Falcons. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:35 p.m. The second game has the Houston Texans at the New England Patriots. The scheduled kickoff for this one is 7:15 p.m. On Sunday the first game is scheduled to kickoff at 12:05 p.m. as the Pittsburgh Steelers are at the Kansas City Chiefs. The second game features the Green Bay Packers at the Dallas Cowboys. The scheduled kickoff for this game is 3:40 p.m.

There where no upset in the wild card round and let’s face it the games where pretty boring. All the home teams won and the closest game was 27-14 between the won by the Houston Texans over the Oakland Raiders. Now the match ups look a little better this week; so we’ll see a higher seed lose?

It came as a little bit of a surprise yesterday when the Oakland Raiders announced that they wouldn’t be retaining offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave. The Raiders offense was ranked 6th in the league in total offense and they scored the 7th most points in the NFL. With quarterback Derek Carr becoming an M.V.P. candidate before breaking his fibula in Week 16. It was reported that Oakland’s head coach Jack Del Rio told the rest of the staff Tuesday afternoon of the move. Musgrave was the Jacksonville Jaquars offensive coordinator in 2003 and 04 when Del Rio was the head coach there. Quarterback coach Todd Downing will take over the offensive coordinator duties. There where reports that Downing had a very good chance of getting an offensive coordinator job with one of the teams hiring a new head coach and there are people wondering if this facilitated this move. Musgrave did have his critics. They pointed out how the Raiders offense seemed to be slow starting and then when they got a lead Musgrave would get too conservative.  Now the Raiders defense finished ranked 26th on the season, but reports are that defensive coordinator Ken Norton’s job is safe.

I was stunned yesterday when I saw the headline that Carl Edwards was walking away from the Joe Gibbs Racing and the #19 car. It was announced that Edwards was retiring from NASCAR immediately. Joe Gibbs Racing has called a news conference Wednesday where Edwards is apparently going to example why he’s walking away from NASCAR. Edwards is 37 years old and showed no sign of injury after an accident, yet he is stepping away from the sport. Certainly any team would want him if he ever decides to return. The timing of the decision certainly leads to speculation of a variety of reasons Edwards could want to stop racing. Maybe Edwards was just mentally spent after another near miss at the championship. Maybe the Joe Gibbs Racing driving corps isn’t as tight as it’s portrayed. Maybe he really is a Ford guy who has a plan in the back of his mind to return to that stable in the future. Maybe he has another job lined up in television? Edwards has done some commentary before and is very good in the booth calling the races. Edwards does have 28 career wins, but never did win a Cup title. He does have two 2nd place finishes on his record. 2016 Xfinity champion Daniel Suarez is expected to take over the #19 car. Suarez, who helped bring the Arris sponsorship to Joe Gibbs Racing makes the jump, but it might of happened a year or two early. Joe Gibbs Racing seemed to have quite a stable of drivers and you had to wonder down the line which driver might lose there ride. Matt Kenseth signed a contract extension last season. It’s being reported that Denny Hamlin has signed a contract extension as well. Kyle Busch is one of the top drivers in NASCAR and Eric Jones has been set up with Furniture Row Racing for the 2017 season, but is expected to return to Joe Gibbs Racing in either 2018 or 2019. Maybe Edwards felt like the odd man out and just decided to walk away. It looks like the question now is; will we ever see Carl Edwards in a full time NASCAR ride again?

We had a couple of more free agents sign in the last couple of days. Outfielder Colby Rasmus agreed to a one year $5 million dollar deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. Rasmus is coming off his worse season batting average wise. Rasmus hit .206 in 107 games with the Houston Astros. Rasmus did have 15 home runs and drove in 54 runs. Rasmus has played all three outfield positions, but it looks as though he’ll spend the majority of his time with the Rays as a corner outfielder.

The other signing has Trevor Plouffe going to the Oakland A’s on a one year $5 million dollar deal. Plouffe has spent his entire seven year career with the Minnesota Twins. Plouffe was limited to just 84 games last season do to injury. Plouffe is a career .247 with 96 career home runs. Plouffe spent time at 1st and 3rd base last season, but it appears as though the A’s will use him at 3rd and Ryon Healy will shift to 1st base and spend time at Designated Hitter.

While slowly, but surely players sign with new teams you have to wonder how much longer it will be before players like Mark Trumbo, Jose Bautista and Matt Wieters sign new deals. It seems as just about every team in baseball has “checked in” on Trumbo and you have to wonder why he isn’t signed yet. Apparently the Texas Rangers are the team with the most interest in Trumbo right now. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have shown some interest in Wieters, but there seems to be very little interest in Bautista. Is Bautista the guy in this free agent market that’s going to have to take a one year prove it type of deal and then try the free agent market again next season.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com but you can listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me o Twitter @Burketime

Oklahoma City Thunder 109 Chicago Bulls 94

Posted: January 10, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Chicago Bulls came into the game on a three game winning streak, but that came to an end when the Oklahoma City Thunder beat them 109-94. Jimmy Butler was sent home after being taken out of the game in the 3rd quarter. Butler was ill coming into the game and there was a chance he wouldn’t play at all. This was the first of  a back to back for the Bulls and it looks as though Butler won’t play Tuesday night and Dwayne Wade will also miss that game. Wade normally skips one game in a back to back set to rest.

Believe it or not the Bulls only lead of the game came when Taj Gibson hit a jump shot for the first points of the game and the Bulls lead 2-0. Chicago did manage to come back and tie the game at 10 all. Oklahoma City finished the quarter on a 16-10 run to take a 26-20 after one quarter.

The 2nd quarter saw Oklahoma City build a 17 point lead 39-22. The Bulls did score the next eight points as part of an 18-4 run that cut the Thunder’s lead to three points. The Bulls couldn’t keep the run going though as they scored just six points the remainder of the quarter as Oklahoma City built it’s lead to 15 points going into halftime ahead 61-46.

The Bulls mad a 11-6 run to cut the Thunder’s lead to 10 points (67-57) with 6:50 left in the quarter, but that was the closet Chicago could get. The rest of the quarter belonged to Oklahoma City. The Thunder went on a 27 to 7 run to build there biggest lead of the game (25 points) 89-64. The Bulls did manage to score the final three points of the quarter to make the score 89-67 at the end of three quarters.

With the result of the game appearing to be taken care of Oklahoma City was able to get there starters some rest. Chicago did outscored Oklahoma City 27 to 20 in the final quarter, but it wasn’t close to enough for a comeback win. By knocking seven points of the Oklahoma City lead just meant the Bulls lost by 15 points 109-94.

Steven Adams was the Thunder’s leading scorer with 22 points. Russell Westbrook had a double-double with 21 points and a game high 14 assists. Westbrook missed a triple-double by 1 rebound. Enes Kanter had 20 points and his 11 rebounds tied for the game high coming off the Oklahoma City bench. Victor Oladipo also tallied 13 points for the Thunder.

Chicago was led by Dwayne Wade with 22 points. Michael Carter-Williams had 15 points while Jerian Grant and Cristiano Felicio came off the Bulls bench to score 11 points. Felicio also grabbed 11 rebounds to tie for the game high. Jimmy Butler did hand out 7 assists to lead the team before exiting the game.

The win improves Oklahoma City’s record to 23-16. The Thunder will get a day off before they return home to host the 24-16 Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night. The loss drops Chicago back to .500 at 19-19. This was the first of back to back games for the Bulls as they must play tonight in Washington against the 18-18 Wizards.

Chicago Bulls 123 Toronto Raptors 118.

Posted: January 7, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Chicago Bulls made up a 19 point second half deficit to get the game into overtime and found a way to get their third win in a row 123-118 over the Toronto Raptors. With the win the Bulls go back over the .500 mark at 19-18. Toronto dropped to 24-12 with the loss.

The teams played a very even first quarter. The biggest lead the Raptors could build in the quarter was four points while the biggest lead the Bulls could get was three points. Jerian Grant hit the last basket of the quarter with .31 seconds left to give the Bulls a one point lead at 29-28.

The 2nd quarter started off very even as well with the teams trading the lead three times. With Toronto holding a one point lead at 39-38 they went on a 11-0 run to take there first double digit lead of the game at 50-38. The Bulls never got closer than eight points the rest of the quarter and the Raptors where able to keep a double digit lead heading into half time at 61-48.

The 3rd quarter saw the Raptors post there biggest lead of the game at 19 points at 82-63 with 3:42 left in the quarter after a DeMar DeRozan hit a pair of free throws. The Bulls did finish the quarter on a 11-4 run, but that cut the Toronto lead to 12 points at 86-74 heading into the 4th quarter.

With a double digit deficit to make up the Bulls didn’t so themselves any favors early in the quarter as Toronto held a 13 point lead 96-83 with 8:40 left in the game. It took a 16-3 run by the Bulls to get the game even at 99 all with 3:33 left to play. It looked as though the Bulls would win the game in regulation when Doug McDermott hit a 3-pointer with :39 seconds left to put the Bulls ahead 107-105. Then  Dwayne Wade fouled DeMar DeRozan with :31 seconds left and after DeRozan hit both free throws the game was headed to overtime tied at 107 all.

The Bulls got out to a five point lead 116-111, but the Raptors where able to get right back in the game and cut the lead to two points at 116-114. That was as close as the Raptors could get as the Bulls scored five of the game final seven points to pull away to a 123-118 victory.

Jimmy Butler was the Bulls and the games high scorer with 42 points. Dwayne Wade added 20 points and had a team high 7 assists. Doug McDermott (17 points) and Nikola Mirotic (12 points) came off the Bulls bench to score in double figures. McDermott and Butler tied for the game high in rebounds as they each grabbed 10 boards. As a team the Bulls made 36 of the 39 free throws they shot.

DeMar DeRozan was the Raptors high scorer with 36 points. Kyle Lowry just missed a triple-double scoring 27 points handed out a game high 12 assists and grabbing a team high 9 rebounds. Jonas Valanciunas and Cory Joseph each scored 14 points for the Raptors.

The Bulls will get a day off before they put there three game wining streak on the line Monday night as they host the 22-16 Oklahoma City Thunder. Tonight was the first of a back to back for the Raptors. Toronto returns home tomorrow to face the 29-9 Houston Rockets.

How was your week

Posted: January 7, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, football, sports
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The NFL playoffs kick off today with wild card weekend. The first game we’ll see today has the (12-4) Oakland Raiders at the (9-7) Houston Texans.

Both of these teams are dealing with what you could call interesting quarterback situations. The Raiders where 12-3 with Derek Carr as there starting quarterback, but in Week 16 Carr went down with a broken leg and is done for the season. Oakland turned to back up Matt McGloin for the final game of the season and then hopefully into the playoffs. Then in what has to be looked at as just bad luck McGloin got hurt in the Week 17 game against the Denver Broncos. McGloin has been limited in practice all week and is listed as “Questionable” on the injury report. While most reports are saying McGloin won’t play we won’t actually know until inactive list for the game is released. So the Raiders are down to there 3rd string quarterback. That is Connor Cook who was the Raiders 2016 4th round draft pick. Cook will actually ne the first quarterback in NFL history to make his first career start in a playoff game. Cook did go 14 of 21 for 150 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception in relief of McGloin against the Broncos. The Raiders did sign Garrett Gilbert to the practice squad to serve as a back up quarterback.

The Texans quarterback situation was affected by injury in Week 17 as well. Tom Savage had taken over as the Texans starting quarterback when he replaced Brock Osweiler in Week 15’s game against the Jacksonville Jaquars. Savage made starts in Week 16 and Week 17, but Savage suffered a concussion in Week 17 against the Tennessee Titans and has not cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol. That means Osweiler gets the job back as Houston’s starting quarterback for today’s playoff game. Osweiler was 8-6 as the Texans starter this season. He completed 59% of his passes and threw 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. After taking over for Savage against the Titans Osweiler went 21 for 40 for 253 yards and a touchdown. It was the most passing yards Osweiler had thrown for sine Week 6. The other injury the Texans are dealing with is to leading rusher Lamar Miller. Miller has been inactive the last two weeks, but wasn’t on the Texans final injury report for the playoff game. Miller ran for 104 yards in the Texans 27-20 loss to the Raiders in Week 11.

Here’s how we’re picking this game. Schaumburg Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I are all going with the Houston Texans. That means Dan the Man is the only one picking the Raiders.

The second playoff game today has the (9-7) Detroit Lions at the (10-5-1) Seattle Seahawks. The injury situation isn’t as bad for either of these teams entering the playoffs, but there is some concern with the way they both played down the stretch. The Lions come into this game on a 3-game losing streak that dropped into a wild card spot. Now the Seahawks did win there final regular season game of the season, but it was just a 2-point (25-23) win over the 2-14 San Francisco 49ers. Luckily for the Seahawks they are the home team and they’ve never lost a playoff game at CenturyLink Field. The Lions have also never won a game in Seattle. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford will still be wearing a glove on his throwing hand to protect his injured finger. Detroit has made only two playoff appearances since 1999 and has not won a postseason game since 1991. The Lions have also trailed in the fourth quarter of every game during the regular season, and they overcame nine fourth quarter deficits while getting out to a 9-4 record before falling back to earth in December and early January. The Seahawks ate just 2-2 since Pro Bowl safety Earl Thomas was injured and some sideline squabbles only added to the idea that Seattle is a team in turmoil. The Seahawks are also missing wide receiver/return man Tyler Lockett who broke his leg in the game against the Arizona Cardinals on December 24th. To fill the void Lockett leaves in the return game Seattle signed veteran return man Devin Hester. Hester has an NFL record 20 returns for touchdowns, including a record 14 on punts, 5 on kickoffs and 1 on a missed field goal attempt return. Hester played in 12 games for the Baltimore Ravens this season. Hester returned 25 punts averaging 7.2 yards per return. He also returned 19 kickoffs averaging 24.5 yards per return.

We’re all in agreement with our pick for this game as we all have the Seahawks getting the win.

You can kind of add this to the list of it happens to everybody. Last night the Golden State Warriors blew a 24 point lead and ended up losing to the Memphis Grizzlies 128-119 in overtime. The loss took place at Oracle Arena where Golden State was 16-2 coming into last nights game. Golden State entered the 4th quarter up by 19 points which normally leads to victory. The Warriors came out “lethargically” at the start of the 4th quarter and Memphis went on a 23-6 run. It took the Warriors offense 7 minutes to score those 6 points. Down the stretch the Warriors used there “Super Death Line Up” of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala and it looked as though they would hang on for a win. Then, the end of regulation was ugliest of all for Golden State. Tony Allen muscled home a follow-up to a key offensive rebound. With the Warriors up two, the Warriors delivered what might have been their most awkward sequence of the season. As Curry dribbled it appeared that Durant did not know where to be, as Green gesticulated. The play led to a Curry miss, salvaged by a Thompson rebound. From there Durant and Curry deliberated over what was supposed to happen, until Curry finally gave up the rock. Then Curry set a less than forceful screen and Durant, facing Zach Randolph’s closeout, missed an off the dribble 3. Green sauntered to the bench looking less than pleased, before exchanging heated words with Durant. The Warriors continued their struggles into overtime and after Troy Daniels hit a 3-pointer the Grizzlies where up 6 points. It looked as though Durant had a chance to pull the Warriors within three as it appeared he scored and was fouled, but after a review of the play the called was changed and a foul was called on Durant. It seemed as though the Warriors couldn’t get back on track and after Mike Conley hit a step back jumper Memphis had the game in hand. After the game Draymond Green had some pointed comments, but pretty much blamed everyone for the loss. This is the kind of loss that doesn’t happen to a team like Golden State. In the end it won’t affect much as they’re still looked at as the best team in the Western Conference and any issue they might be having; they’ll have 45 regular season games to work out.

You can listen to the Sports Time radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com but you can listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Chicago Bulls 106 Cleveland Cavaliers 94

Posted: January 5, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Cleveland Cavaliers went into Wednesday night game against the Chicago Bulls missing two of their “big” three for this game. Kevin Love sat out with an illness from a sea bass dinner he had and Kyrie Irving missed the game with a hamstring injury. LeBron James was also sick coming into the game, but he played. With the Cavaliers missing bodies the Bulls where able to get a big road win 106-94.

Even without Love and Irving the game started off like the Cavaliers would be just fine as they scored 15 of the games first 17 points. The Bulls managed just 16 points in the 1st quarter. The Cavaliers ended up with a 7 point lead at 23-16 after one quarter.

Maybe the Bulls needed a quarter to warm up from the cold January weather as they scored the first 9 points of the quarter to take there first lead of the game 25-23. The teams traded the lead a couple of times until the Bulls where able to build a five point lead at 39-34 with 4:26 left in the quarter. The Bulls where able to add a point to there lead going into halftime ahead 52-46.

The Bulls used a 12-7 run to take there first double digit lead of the game at 64-53. It took the Cavaliers the rest of the quarter to get the Bulls lead under double digits. The Cavaliers scored the last six points of the quarter and when  Jordan McRae hit a lay up with 0.27 seconds left in the quarter Cleveland was down 9 points 83-74 after three quarters.

Cleveland did get a little closer as they scored the first four points of the 4th quarter to cut the Bulls lead to five points. The Bulls pushed the lead to eight points, but the Cavaliers came right back and got the lead down to two points 86-84 after Kay Felder hit a jump shot with 9:18 left in the quarter. After Jimmy Butler split a pair of free throws LeBron James hit a lay up and the Bulls lead was down to one at 89-88. The rest of the game pretty much belonged to the Bulls as they finished on a 17 to 6 run and pulled away for a 106-94 victory.

The Bulls where led by Jimmy Butler with 20 points. Butler also handed out a game high 8 assists. Taj Gibson scored 18 points and a team high 7 rebounds, Michael Carter-Williams added 13 points and Dwayne Wade scored 10 points. Wade did his damage from behind the 3-point line where he was 3 of 4 in the game. Doug McDermott had 17 points off the Bulls bench and was also 3 of 4 from behind the 3-point line. Nikola Mirotic also scored double digits off the Bulls bench with 16 points.

LeBron James was the Cavaliers and the games high scorer with 31 points. Jordan McRae moved into the starting line for the Cavaliers and scored 21 points. Channing Frye also got a start for Cleveland and scored 15 points. Tristan Thompson was the games leading rebounder with 11.

The win gets the Bulls back to .500 at 18-18. Chicago will get a couple of days off before they return home to host the 23-11 Toronto Raptors Saturday night. The loss was just the Cavaliers 3rd at home this season and their 8th loss on the season. The Cavaliers get a day off before they go on the road to face the 8-25 Brooklyn Nets Friday night.

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: January 4, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The NFL regular season wrapped up last weekend and so did our pick contest. It took me all year, but I finally won a week outright as I went 13-3. Dan the Man finished 2nd for the week at 12-4. Schaumburg Stu and Mr. Fantasy tied at 9-7. Overall it was Schaumburg Stu who won with a record of 167-89. Dan the Man moved into 2nd place with an overall record of 159-97. Mr. Fantasy took the 3rd spot with a record of 157-99 and even though I managed to win the final week I still finished in the cellar with a record of 155-101. Will wipe the slate clean and see how we do with our playoff picks.

Speaking of the NFL playoffs the days and match ups are all set. The AFC gets things started at 3:35 p.m. on Saturday as the Houston Texans host the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders did have a better regular season record than the Texans did, but Houston won a very weak AFC South while the Raiders finished 2nd in the AFC West to the Kansas City Chiefs. The second Saturday game with a scheduled 7:15 p.m. start times has the Detroit Lions at Seattle Seahawks. The AFC again starts the Sunday playoff schedule off as the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Miami Dolphins. The game has a listed 12:05 p.m. start time. The final game to wrap up the 1st round of the playoffs has the New York Giants as the Green Bay Packers. The scheduled start time for this game is 3:40 p.m. This is another situation where the wild card team has the better record, but they play on the road because they’re facing a division winner. In the AFC the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs have the 1st round byes while in the NFC it’s the Dallas Cowboys and the Atlanta Falcons who get the opening week off.

What are your feeling about having a wild card team with a better record than a division winner hosting the playoff game. I’ve heard both sides of this argument and if you’re a Raiders or a Giants fan I can see your point, but I believe you have to get some type of reward for winning your division. It’s just kind of how the NFL goes. Some divisions are better than others and this season the AFC West and the NFC East had top team with good records. People may forget that the Dolphins where a in team, but since they play in the  win team this season, but since they play in the AFC East with the Patriots there name doesn’t really come up. I’m not sure if there needs to be a change here, but if someone had a good idea about how the NFL could handle this I’d be willing to listen to it. Feel free to let me know where you stand on this. Are you on the side of the better record getting the home game or would you like to keep it as it is with the division winners getting to host the opening round playoff games?

Are fantasy football season came to an end with the end of the NFL regular season. We have a couple of leagues that go all the way through Week 17. I know a lot of leagues end after Week 16 because of the fear of players sitting out the final week of the season, but to me it just makes it all the more challenging. We always talk about the two main leagues we play in. We have a snake league style draft and then we do and auction style draft. Both leagues are 20 team leagues and 8 teams make the playoffs. It’s the 4 division winners and then the next best 4 records regardless of how many could be in one division. In the snake league I didn’t make the playoffs. Mr. Fantasy and Dan the Man did make it, but sadly they both went out in the 1st round. In our auction league I was the only one who managed to get into the playoffs and I just made it as the 8th seed. They always say you just want to get in and I did. It worked out for me as my team ended up winning the Super Bowl.

I can still remember going into our draft Mr. Fantasy telling me how running backs where devalued. Oddly 8 of the Top 10 scorers in our snake style draft league where running backs. The other two spots in the Top 10 went to quarterbacks. Wide receiver was the hot position going into the draft, but the top scoring wide receiver in our league finished 13th overall in scoring. Going into the draft wide receivers where the Top 3 ranked players. Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson was the top scorer in our league. Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers was the top scoring quarterback. Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers was the top scoring wide receiver. Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs was the top scoring tight end. The top scoring Defense/Special Teams was the Kansas City Chiefs while the top scoring kicker was Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens. We actually use defensive players in our leagues. The highest scoring defensive player in our league was Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner.

While you have your high scorers in fantasy you also have the players who don’t quite do as well as expected. Injuries aside here as there’s nothing you can do about that here are a few guys who didn’t do as well as projected. Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks was the 3rd quarterback pre-draft. Wilson finished as the 16th ranked quarterback. Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams was projected as the 2nd best running back pre-draft. Gurley finished as the 13th ranked running back. At wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins of the Houston Texans was the 4th ranked wide receiver pre-draft. Hopkins ended up being one of the biggest fantasy bust as he finished the season as the 30th ranked wide receiver. Colby Fleener of the New Orleans Saints was projected as the 6th best tight end pre-draft. Fleener end up as the 15 ranked tight end. Again I stayed away from players who missed time with injuries this season.

You can listen the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com but you can also listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Chicago Bulls 118 Charlotte Hornets 111

Posted: January 3, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Jimmy Butler went 21 of 22 from the free throw line on his way to a 52 point night as the Chicago Bulls beat the Charlotte Hornets 118-111. Butler became the 8th player to have a 50 point game this season. The loss was Charlotte’s 2nd in a row and dropped there record to 19-16 this season. The up and down Bulls season continued as they are now back to one game under .500 with the win at 17-18.

Neither team could build much of a lead in the 1st quarter as the game was tied three times. The Bulls had the biggest lead of the quarter when they took a five point lead at 21-16. Charlotte never had the lead in the quarter, but when Spencer Hawes hit a lay up with just .02 seconds left Charlotte had cut the lead to two points at 25-23.

Charlotte took their first lead of the game early in the 2nd quarter. The biggest lead Charlotte could build was seven points on two different occasions; the last being at 41-34. The Bulls came all the way back to tie the game at 43 and then went on to build a five point lead only to have Charlotte come right back and tie the game at 50. The Bulls where able to get the lead back, but Charlotte kept it close and going into halftime Chicago had a 58-57 lead going into halftime.

Charlotte built a five point lead early in the 3rd quarter only to have Chicago come back and tie the game again at 65 all. After another tie at 68 all the Hornets where again able to build a lead. After a 11-3 run Charlotte had it’s biggest lead of the game at eight points at 79-71 with 4:24 left in the quarter. The Bulls worked there way back into the game by hitting the last two baskets of the quarter to cut the Hornets lead to three points at 85-82.

The teams traded baskets at the start of the 4th quarter with Charlotte building a five point lead (100-95) with 6:39 left in the game. This is the kind of game the Bulls have been letting slip away this season, but this time they stayed in it. After Jimmy Butler completed a three point play to tie the game at 100 all. Butler then went on to score 14 of the Bulls final 18 points including two free throws with .07 seconds left to seal the victory at 118-111.

It will come as no surprise that Jimmy Butler was the Bulls and the games high scorer with those 52 points. Butler also grabbed a game high 12 rebounds and tied for the game lead in assists with his teammate Jerian Grant. Each had 6 assists in the game. Nikola Mirotic came off the Bulls bench to score 12 points while Doug McDermott who was in the starting line up scored 11 points and Michael Carter-Williams also in the starting line up had 10 points. Dwayne Wade was given the game off and Rajon Rondo didn’t play do to coach’s decision.

Kemba Walker’s 34 points led the Hornets and his 11 rebounds where also a team high. Nicholas Batum had 19 points and a team high 5 assists. Jeremy Lamb (15 points) and Spencer Hawes (10 points) came off the Hornets bench to score in double figures.

The Bulls get a day off before they take on the Eastern Conference leading (26-7) Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena Wednesday night. Charlotte also gets a day off as they’re returning home to host the 21-14 Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.

Week 17 game picks

Posted: January 1, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in football, NFL picks, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Even though we’re taking a holiday break from doing the Sports Time Radio podcast we  still have to make our picks for Week 17 in the NFL. Here’s who we’re going with this we.

We all have:

The STEELERS over the Browns.

The VIKINGS over the Bears.

The PATRIOTS over the Dolphins.

The CHIEFS over the Chargers.

The SEAHAWKS over the 49ers

The FALCONS over the Saints.

Here’s how we have the rest of the games.

Dan the Man likes Cincinnati. Schaumburg Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I have Baltimore.

I have Philadelphia. Stu, Dan and Mr. Fantasy have Dallas.

Dan has Carolina. Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I have Tampa Bay.

Dan has the Jets. Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I have the Bills.

Mr. Fantasy has Jacksonville. Stu, Dan and I have Indianapolis.

Mr. Fantasy has Los Angeles. Stu, Dan and I have Arizona.

Dan has the New York Giants. Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I have Washington.

Stu has Detroit. Dan, Mr. Fantasy and I have Green Bay.

Stu and Dan have the Texans. Mr. Fantasy and I have the Titans.

Stu and Dan have the Raiders. Mr. Fantasy and I have the Broncos.

Going into Week 17:

Schaumburg Stu is 158-82

Mr. Fantasy is 148-92

Dan the Man is 147-93

The Big Jack is 142-98

Milwaukee Bucks 116 Chicago Bulls 96

Posted: December 31, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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For the third time in 16 days the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls by double digit points. The Bucks pulled away in the second half to for a 116-96 victory. The win gets Milwaukee back to .500 at 16-16 while the Bulls fall back to two games under .500 at 16-18.

The Bulls got off to a good start as they scored 11 of the games first 12 points. Milwaukee spent the rest of the quarter coming from behind and did manage to cut the Bulls lead to three points on four different occasions. At the end of the first quarter the Bulls had a five point lead at 27-22.

Milwaukee started the second quarter off on a 9 to 4 run to tie the game at 31 all. The game went on to be tied a total of six times in the quarter. Towards the end of the quarter the Bulls where able to build a five point lead at 51-46 with just five seconds to play. Giannis Antetokoumpo hit a 3-pointer as the half expired to cut the Bulls lead to two at 51-49 headed into halftime.

The Bucks took the lead early in the 3rd quarter at 53-51 on another basket by Antetokoumpo. The teams swapped the lead a couple of times before Antetokoumpo helped Milwaukee build a nine point 69-60 with 5:46 left in the quarter. A Doug McDermott 3-pointer cut the lead to three at 79-76 with just 1:19 left in the quarter. Jason Terry then split a pair of free throws to give the Bucks a four point lead 80-76 after three quarters.

This game was much closer than the previous two encounters heading into the final quarter. This was the second game of a back to back for the Bulls and you have to wonder if maybe they ran out of gas as they only managed to score 20 points in the 4th quarter. Milwaukee on the other hand put up 36 points in the 4th quarter and where able to easily pull away for a 20 victory 116-96.

Giannis Antetokoumpo was the Bucks and the games high scorer with 35 points. Jabari Parker added 27 points for Milwaukee while Greg Monroe came off the Bucks bench to post a double-double. Monroe had 15 points and a game high 12 rebounds. Rookie Malcolm Brogdon got his first start of the season for the Bucks and posted his first career triple-double. Brogdon had 15 points, 11 rebounds and a game high 12 assists. Brogdon was the Bucks 2nd round pick (36th overall) out of Virginia and was averaging 8.0 points per game coming into this game.

The Bulls where led by Jimmy Butler who had 26 points. Butler also had a team high 8 assists. Doug McDermott came off the Bulls bench to score 13 points. Robin Lopez posted a double-double for the Bulls scoring 12 points and grabbing a team high 10 rebounds. Taj Gibson had 11 points and Nikola Mirotic off the Bulls bench added 10 points.

Milwaukee gets New Year’s Day off before they host the 20-13 Oklahoma City Thunder to start 2017. After dropping back to back games the Bulls also get New Year’s Day off before they before they host the 19-15 Charlotte Hornets.

How was your week

Posted: December 31, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, football, sports
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The UFC held a pay per view last night in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile area. Normally the UFC pay per views are on Saturdays, but I guess they didn’t want to go up against the New Year’s Eve festivities. This was UFC 207 and the main event on the card was the return of former Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.

Rousey hasn’t fought since November of 2015 when she suffered her first loss to Holly Holm. Holm also won the Batamweight title in that fight. The title has changed hands a couple of times since Holm beat Rousey for it. Going into last nights fight the title holder was Brazillian Amanda Nunes. Nunes won the Batamweight title from Miesha Tate by submission in July of this year and has a career record of 13-4 coming into the Rousey fight. Nunes came in on a four fight win streak, but was still a heavy underdog according to Las Vegas odds.

If you’re a gambler and with the fight being in Las Vegas I’m sure there was some money bet on this fight. You needed to bet on the underdog Nunes to cash a winning ticket. Nunes made quick work of the former champion Rousey. Nunes picked up a very quick win by TKO when referee Herb Dean stopped the fight just 48 seconds after it started. This was the quickest victory of Nunes’ career.

Nunes landed a very early jab on Rousey and then went immediately to the right hand. She is known as one of the harder hitters in the division, and Rousey looked hurt from basically the first exchange. Rousey fell backward to the cage and then leaned forward to try to wrap Nunes up. Nunes shoved her back and continued to plod forward. Rousey managed to land one left hook as Nunes aggressively pursued her, but it didn’t have much effect on the champ. Once Rousey was hurt, she was an easy target for Nunes. Rousey did not shoot for a takedown and had no way of exiting Nunes’ boxing range. While Rousey was never unconscious in this fight like she was after the Holm kick, but she was clearly out on her feet when the fight was stopped. Rousey was able to walk out of the Octagon without assistance after the stoppage.

Nunes now holds the UFC female bantamweight record for most finishes inside the first round. She was tied with Rousey at five coming into the fight.

Even though it was Nunes who won the fight the attention quickly turned to Rousey and what she will do after her 2nd consecutive loss. Rousey did not address the media after the loss, but her agent Brad Slater did say “It’s too soon to say anything about the future. I don’t want to speak for her. She’s going to take some time to process this.” When UFC President Dana White was asked if he thought Rousey would fight again he said “I don’t know. Ronda obviously needs to go home and take some time. She’s very rich. She doesn’t need to fight anymore. She’s super competitive. Maybe she wants to, I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”

UFC 207 was a sellout in the area as the attendance was announced as 18,533 for a gate of $4.75 million dollars. It was the most attended UFC event in Las Vegas. It was reported that Rousey made $3 million dollars for her comeback fight while Nunes was paid $200,000.

What do you guys think; will we see Ronda Rousey fight in the Octagon again?

Now I’m not the biggest college football fan and we don’t talk much about it on the Sports Time Radio podcast, but there are two semi-final bowl games today. The Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl is the first game on the schedule this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. This game features the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide against the #4 Washington Huskies. The second game is the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. This game features the #2 Clemson Tigers taking on the #3 Ohio State Buckeyes. The winners of these two games will advance to the CFP National Championship Game presented by AT&T on January 9th. This years CFP championship game will be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Florida.

I’ve seen that Alabama is a pretty big favorite to advance to the championship game. The last betting line I saw had Alabama as a 14 point favorite over Washington. It looks as though the oddsmakers think the second game will be much closer. The betting line I saw on that game had Clemson as a 2 1/2 point favorite over Ohio State.

Alabama has won 4 of the last 6 National Championships while Ohio State won the title in 2014. Washington was 12-0 in 1991, but the University of Miami Fl. won the national title. Clemson the last time Clemson wo the national title was 1981. This is the 4th year for the College Football Playoff; so when Washington just missed winning a title and Clemson won their last title the championship was awarded by popular vote and there where different polls awarding titles.

I’m wondering if last night was the first time ever in an NBA game that a father and son where both ejected. In the Los Angeles Clippers 140-116 loss to the Houston Rockets both Clippers head coach Glenn “Doc” Rivers and his son Clippers guard Austin Rivers where both ejected in the first half of the game.

Austin was the first of the Rivers to be ejected. After Austin missed a lay up he lightly bumped into referee J.T. Orr and was tossed. After being ejected Austin yelled at Orr and waved his arms at him. A Clippers employee had to lead Austin off the court. Austin tried to go back at Orr when he got to the edge of the court, but that employee held Rivers back.

Doc’s ejection came during a timeout. Doc approached lead official Jason Phillps and was questioning why Marreese Speights wasn’t awarded free throws when the basket was made following Austin Rivers missed lay up. Doc thought that the referees had called and an 1 on the play, but the Clippers weren’t given any free throws. Doc called the timeout himself before he was ejected so he could discuss the situation with the officials.

This is the 3rd time this season Doc Rivers has been ejected and this was the 4th career ejection for Austin Rivers.

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