And We’re Back With and Into the Silly Season

  And We’re Back With and Into the Silly Season ….

It’s that time of the year again where the world of sports comes into something of a lull. The NBA has seen their NBA Playoffs and postseason come to an end and a new champion has been crowned with the Toronto Raptors (4-2) having overcome the Golden State Warriors (2-4) to win their very first NBA title. Raptors’ player Kawhi Leonard won his second title of his career and along with it his second Finals’ MVP Award . Now if the rumors are to be believed , Leonard will decline the player option of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent , which is likely to trigger a plethora of teams likely to be interested in his services . Kawhi Leonard will likely join players such as Kyrie Irving , Al Horford and several others on the NBA free agents’ market. At this point last season , the list of players who had declined their player option was quite staggering also .

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The common belief also is that the Los Angeles Lakers having made a big splash with their acquisition of Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Lonzo Ball , Josh Hart and Brandon Ingram . How this trade will play out and impact the Lakers and their other needs remains to be seen , as their cap base is not what GM Rob Pelinka might deem fit at this present moment in time. The fans of the Lakers may well feel the acquisition of Davis now makes them a legitimate contender , but in reality they still remain no better than the fifth best team in the Western Conference and hardly likely to challenge their top-tier contenders within their division much less the conference .

The NBA Draft itself proved to be an eventful one with several teams looking to fulfill their needs from among the crop of prospects who’d declared themselves eligible for the Draft. Zion Williamson was taken was the number one overall pick by the New Orleans Pelicans and it remains to be seen how this revamped roster will seek to make itself competitive for the upcoming NBA season. The Los Angeles Lakers for their part sought to fill the holes where needed on the roster, but as alluded to before , this is a franchise which I believe is still a long way off from where they need to be and I certainly don’t believe that their new Head Coach Frank Vogel and his staff will be bringing anything new to the table. Vogel’s career with the Indiana Pacers can be best described as being moderately successful . Moderately successful will not cut it for the Lakers’ fans who are long-starved of success , considering their last NBA triumph of the franchise winning an NBA title took place more than a decade ago. Since then the pickings for the Lakers have been mundane.

Having been dethroned as two-time NBA champions , it could be said that the off-season for the Golden State Warriors could be a troubling one , with several players becoming free agents and their being the likelihood at least one or two stars from the roster leaving. Fans watching the Finals , witnessed the recurrence of the injury suffered by Kevin Durant and then in game six , after a spectacular performance , Klay Thompson had to withdraw from the contest , having suffered a leg injury. If nothing else, what was proven to the fans, the bench of the Warriors was not as strong as many believed it to be. Head Coach Steve Kerr and team general manager Bob Myers will be figuring out a way to bolster the roster ,by way of the Draft as well as through free agency and perhaps re-signing one or two of their free agents.

This past weekend within the world of Major League Baseball , there were several games of interest for the fans. The series between the Houston Astros and New York Yankees proved to be an eventful one and once again the fans got to see the Astros’ young phenom Yordan Alvarez prove that his introduction as a rookie on the team’s roster was no fluke. Alvarez through twelve games for the for Astros has powered his way to some spectacular statistics , something not seen in the game for several decades. While the Astros look to maintain their position at the top of the AL West , it will be interesting to see how they fare over the rest of the month of June in the lead-up to the MLB All Star Game.

The next game up for Yordan Alvarez and his teammates will see the Astros face off against the Pittsburgh Pirates at home on Monday, 24th June , 2019. Meanwhile, for the New York Yankees their next scheduled game will see them face the Toronto Blue Jays at home in an AL East divisional match-up . On the mound for the Yankees will be their veteran starting pitcher CC Sabathia as he takes on Aaron Sanchez of the Blue Jays . The team with the best record over their last ten games just happens to be the New York Yankees who also share a similar mark of 8-2 with the Cleveland Indians and the Los Angeles Dodgers .

With so much at stake at this point of the season , speculation has begun to arise that a number of teams will be movers and shakers in the lead-up to the trade deadline and once again it looks as if the New York Yankees will be players in that scenario. It is widely known that GM Brian Cashman is looking to bolster the team’s roster with a starting pitcher, to create more depth among the pitching lineup. Two names said to be at the top Cashman’s desired list , are Max Scherzer , currently with the Washington Nationals and Madison Bumgarner with the San Francisco Giants . Cashman and the Yankees’ managing partner , Hal Steinbrenner are not averse to pushing the team’s payroll, well above the current mark of roughly $218 million . Either way, no matter who they obtain , it is becoming increasingly clear that the front office and managerial staff of the Yankees , believe that the team’s strength will be their pitching , rather than relying on their offense .

Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers is just one of a handful of players in the Majors this season who could be on route to hit at least fifty home runs for the year. Yelich along with Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers appear to be the runaway leaders for the NL League MVP . It could prove to be an interesting second half to this season if both players are able to keep their current pace. With both teams riding high within their respective divisions , the second half of this season could prove to be very competitive.

If the Baltimore Orioles continue at their present pace the ball-club could end up winning less than fifty games for the season. The team has been less than competitive and it’s hard to see how the managerial staff of Brandon Hyde cannot be blamed for the Orioles’ woes this season. Poor play all-round has been the one evident thing from the players and it’s telling that even with the idiocy of the MLB hierarchy believing every ball-club should have at least one representative on the All Star Ballot. It’s hard to justify any player from the Orioles be included , based on the mediocre play seen this season. The team will be in action today when they face the San Diego Padres at home in a game between two ball-clubs struggling to find some semblance of success this season. Opposing pitchers in this contest are Logan Allen of the Padres against Jimmy Yacabonis of the Orioles.

We know the NFL season , by way of its news’ cycle ; it tends to be year-round and in the aftermath of another tremendous season which saw the New England Patriots triumph on their way to a historical sixth Superbowl victory; the most in NFL history by a modern-day franchise. Coming off that season , the Patriots will now seek to regroup, make their customary off-season acquisitions , re-signings where necessary and also make themselves a cap-friendly franchise within the league.

Patriots’ Head Coach Bill Belichick and his staff , along with team GM Nick Caserio will certainly be synced on the direction of the franchise will proceed in. Tom Brady still remains pivotal to the team’s success and many of the players on the roster are keenly aware of the position. Brady for his part has made it clear that he wants to player for at least another three years, but it’s clear that the front office must be weary that a contingency plan has to be in place with their being a back-up for veteran star. It will be interesting to see how the New England Patriots proceed and which of Brady’s understudies are seen as his possible successor. Jarrett Stidham and Danny Etling are the players in that somewhat unenviable position. Brian Hoyer the holdover from the roster of a year ago, is seen as the primary backup to Tom Brady and his experience will be an invaluable asset to Stidham and Etling, as well as the franchise overall. New England will invariably begin their preseason schedule as befitting the reigning Superbowl champions. The Patriots’ preseason opener will see them face the Detroit Lions in a road game. Their regular season opener , will be a match-up against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough Massachusetts on the 8th September , 2019 .

The NFL player I believe with the biggest mountain to climb and prove that he remains among the elite at his position, Then a case can be made for Atlanta Falcons’ starting quarterback Matt Ryan . The player whose guaranteed money will be among the highest in the league for the upcoming season has to prove that the money he’s being paid is more than justified. . Ryan’s lone Superbowl appearance for the Falcons saw the team succumb to the New England Patriots , in a game where the Falcons had the upper hand for much of the contest. His inexperience and that of his teammates , led to their demise .

It will be interesting to see how Matt Ryan fares this upcoming season where the Atlanta Falcons’ regular season schedule is an undoubted tough one.

What if anything, do you hope to see in the upcoming weeks within the world of sports by way of a good story ?

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Tophatal ………

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NBA news …..

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MLB news …

MLB three day schedule at a glance (25th June)

MLB standings division …

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NFL news ….

2019 NFL preseason schedule …

2019 NFL regular season schedule …
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