Arsenal Striker Needs

Whilst Robert Lewandowski was disappointing against England last Tuesday, we all know that he's capable of more. The Polish forward's running was sharp and effective, but for once he didn't pack his finishing boots. If we had caught him on another day, things could have been very different. The man is quite sensational in front of goal.

He's the spearhead of a very impressive Borussia Dortmund side, and hasn't been able to stop scoring since 2011. During that season (2011/12) he nabbed 30 goals in 47 appearances. Last season he scored 36 in 49. This season he already has 9 goals in 9 games. There are very few strikers in world football who can boast of similar strike-rates. The man appears to be in a league of his own.

What's more, given the fact that his Borussia Dortmund contract is about to run down (this summer), he's also one of world football's most eligible men. I'm sure there'll be plenty of clubs looking to offer him a contract when Dortmund are forced to release him.

It was originally assumed that he would end up at Bayern Munich, but the Polish striker recently moved to sway those rumors. He said recently that he could end up at any club that gives him an offer, and also talked about one day playing in the premier league.  The Star suggest that Arsenal could move in for Lewandowski, given that the club is 'desperately short of striking options'. In this regard, I can't help but nod vigorously in agreement.

Whilst Olivier Giroud has done a fine job thus far this season, he's going to need more support. This is the one area of the squad where Arsenal are short of world-class options.

Adding Robert Lewandowski to their squad would turn Arsenal into a massive powerhouse in England. It would send a message out to the footballing community that the club means business. It would further underline the Gunners' ability to attract top talent.

At 25-years-old, Lewandowski is about to enter the best years of his career. For him to do so in an Arsenal jersey would be quite a thing.

What's your take? Can Arsenal really compete for Robert Lewandowski?

Fantasy Sports

Just recently I had the annual NBA fantasy basketball league draft with a bunch of friends at my school. For those who don't know, fantasy sports have become very popular in the last decade and are played today by people worldwide. Fantasy sports can be played in pretty much every sport from football to basketball and even soccer. Fantasy sports is a game where you join a fantasy sport league for whatever sport you're playing and then you have a draft where you pick a team of players to play on your team. Then throughout the sports season you get points towards your games based on how well your player performs. For example in an NBA fantasy draft you have all the people participating and each person gets a pick one after another until all the roster spots are full on your team. When drafting a team you want to make sure you get a good amount of players at each position. After you have your team chosen you then proceed to play games against other people in the league. For basketball, the games work by having one full week of the NBA regular season as one game in fantasy. Each night of that week you set your lineup of players that are playing that night and based on how they do, you get a certain number of points that go towards your total for the week. After the week is up, whoever has more points gets the win for that game. Although this is not the same with all sports, the essentials are the same.

Now that I've explained a little bit more about fantasy sports I want to talk about why you should play them. First and foremost, fantasy sports are addicting. If you're into one sport a lot and you join a fantasy league for that sport you'll be hooked instantly. The thing that makes these games so addicting is the fact that it really gets you involved with the sport and makes it more interesting to follow. Not only are you cheering for your favorite team, but your also hoping and praying that your star player has a good game as well. The second thing that really gets me interested in fantasy is the competitiveness. In my fantasy I play against a bunch of my friends and I would definitely recommend you do the same if you want to play fantasy sports. Playing against friends is a blast because not only are you competing to win, you're also competing for bragging rights. And pride and glory. You and your friends can talk trash, trade players to try to improve your team, and just have a ton of fun throughout the entire process.

If fantasy sports is something that you have never tried before, and if it even slightly interests you, I would recommend whole heartedly going and checking it out. My only word of advice is you may become too addicted for your own good. So proceed with caution.

Liverpools Season Hopes

With Liverpool currently joint top of the Premier League table, this is the best it’s felt to be a fan of the club for some time.

After years of crushing disappoint, Brendan Rogers finally appears to have assembled a squad with some backbone. Better still, it has a rich vein of class running through it. Players like Philippe Coutinho, Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and the aging Steven Gerrard are good enough to get into most teams in world football. They’re also all remarkably gifted technical players. As a result, Liverpool aren’t just grinding out results, they’re winning games thanks to fine performances and stand-out moments from special players.

Whilst I wouldn’t go as far as to suggest that the Reds could be title contenders this season, Rodgers should certainly be aiming for a top four slot. And what a fantastic platform to build upon that would be! Yes, Rogers brought in some top players during the summer, but being a part of the Champions League grants you access to another slew of top level players. That’s what the Reds need if they’re to keep up their momentum and develop as a team. If they manage to pull off this feat, then the rumours concerning Liverpool and Xabi Alonso could well come true. Alonso already has a deep-seated love for Liverpool and if the club could also offer him Champions League football, then a move back could be all the more tempting.

According to The Star, Brendan Rodgers wants Xabi Alonso back at Anfield. With his Real Madrid contract up at the end of the year and it looking unlikely that he will sign a new deal, Liverpool could yet snap him up on a free transfer. It’s also suggested that Madrid would be willing to sell Alonso for a ‘token fee’ in January. Alonso was at Liverpool for five years and during that time he won the Champions League and the FA Cup. His incredible range of passing, effortless ability on the ball and winning attitude lifted everybody at the club. He’s now 31-years-old, but it’s fair to say that he’d still be a huge asset for Liverpool football club. It’s not like he’s going to lose his ability to fire off pin-point accurate 30/40-yard passes any time soon. Besides he’d be a free transfer. There’s no better bargain than that!

Should Liverpool pick him up? I think only time will tell.

England Woes

England's 4-1 victory against Montenegro on Friday night highlighted why England will not win the world cup anytime soon.

Against a stubborn Montenegro team, England failed to break through until the 49th minute through a Wayne Rooney goal, showing that Roy Hodgson is tasked with an almost impossible challenge to
perform on the world stage. It was only after Montenegro had tired, that England took control of the match, with an own goal, an Andros Townsend stunner and Daniel Sturridge penalty giving the scoreline an air of respectability. Hodgson’s tenure as England manager has been dogged with a very negative style of play. They do not go looking for the victory when it is there for the taking, which has left England in a tricky situation, needing a win against Poland on Tuesday to guarantee their place in Brazil next year. Hodgson’s lack of adaptability was exposed even further during the week with his desire to explore the eligibility of the talented Manchester United youngster, Adnan Januzaj, showing that he doesn’t trust the eligible players he currently has to get the job done in the future.
Cast your mind back to the golden generation in 2002, and the world cup in Japan, where England went in as one of the favourites for the tournament before losing to Brazil in the quarter-finals. This was the last England team that had any hope of winning a tournament.

Since then, England have plodded along, getting to tournaments, or even failing to do that with Euro 2008, but never pushing forward to the next level. Unfortunately, other countries have moved out of sight, with the likes of Germany and Spain bringing through world class player after world class player.

Greg Dyke’s recent speech about the state of English football is a step in the right direction, but until players, and even English clubs, take their duty to the England team seriously, it will be stuck in the past. There are bright spots on the horizon, with the debut of Andros Townsend showing that, once the likes of Lampard, Gerrard and Cole retire, there will be players who are closer to the Spanish mould coming to the fore. But it will take a manager other than Hodgson, to fulfil the fan’s desire for success. Hodgson’s tenure as England manager rests on the home match against Poland. Win and he can say that he has set out what he intended to do, fail and it will be just another reason why England will not win the world cup anytime soon.

What’s your take? Is this a side that is capable of winning the World Cup?

World Cup Controversy

I know that this is a sport blog and therefore politics and such should not be on here, but because the information I'm about to share could have major implications on one of the worlds biggest sporting events coming up this summer. The 2014 FIFA World Cup. I know these events took place earlier this summer but I just wanted to touch on how this might effect the upcoming world cup.

As I've understood, these protests started almost a year ago in Natal, where people were unhappy about the increase of bus fare prices. These protest also occurred later in other cities where bus fare prices where also increased. But the protests have now become expressions of general discontent. People are not happy about the cost of living in Brazil, the high rates of corruption, the National Chamber’s plans to kind of protect politicians who have been involved in criminal activities and, last but not least, the funding of major sports events (the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics).

The World Cup and the Olympics are much more expensive than planned. People just do not understand why so much money is invested in stadiums and other sporting events related stuff than investing in health care, education, infrastructure and all that kind of stuff. And people are upset and angry at the Brazilian government and FIFA. I can only agree with these people. The stadiums that are being put up are amazing and I would never want to see them leave. But I haven’t paid for them and the people out there on the streets in Brazil have. Instead of having proper health care and education, they have these awesome stadiums. I wouldn’t be happy about that either.

Also, the way the police is handling the protests is just ridiculous. I read about teargas, rubber-bullets and pepper-spray being used to shut down the protests. And that’s just crossing the line. You can not do that in a democratic society. FIFA wants to keep protesters away from the stadiums during the Confederations Cup. FIFA wants to create a perfect image for the world to see, like the ConfedCup and the World Cup are being held in paradise or super-duper-awesome-land where everything is golden. These people have the right to protest and just because FIFA is in town doesn’t mean you can crack down hard on protesters.

The world cup is one of the things I'm looking forward to the most in the next year of my life, and Although I do understand where these protesters are coming from with their argument, that doesn't mean I'm not going to support the world cup and watch as much of it as I can, because it does only happen once every 4 years and you have to take advantage of the opportunities while you can. 

NCAA Basketball: Predictions

In about one month, over 300 Division I  basketball programs will take the courts, with one being crowned champion in April’s Final Four in Dallas, Texas. Here, I just wanted to preview of some of the college basketball teams to look out for this season, who could excite the crowd and cut down the nets for that one shining moment!

Kansas Jayhawks

When Kansas landed high school superstud Andrew Wiggins into its freshman class, they knew what they were getting into. Basically, a one-and-done situation. If he is as good as advertised, he could be a first-round draft pick and could fit the mold of a Ben McLemore/Paul Pierce-type of wing player for the Jayhawks. Sophomore big man Perry Ellis is a force down low, as he showed during the Michigan game in last season’s college basketball tournament.

Michigan Wolverines

It hurts big time when you lose arguably the nation’s top backcourt in Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. But, Michigan does return a great frontcourt in Mitch McGary and Glen Robinson Jr.  Also, Nick Stauskas will be back in Ann Arbor for his sophomore campaign. Two freshman to keep an eye on are Zack Irvin and point guard Derrick Walton, as they should see major minutes right away for the Wolverines.

Duke Blue Devils

Coach Krzyzewski can coach, and he can recruit his hometown of Chicago well, which could be a reason why he landed the second-best recruit in the nation, Jabari Parker. Parker is a special player and will be in the NBA one day. Big man Rodney Hood is another player—a transfer from Mississippi State—that is an excellent player and has averaged double figures in his career. Also, look out for Rasheed Sulaimon on the perimenter. He can knock down jumpers and drive on you!

Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky has recruited six of the top 100 players in the nation. Yes folks, John Calipari has done it! This may very well be the best recruiting class since the “Fab Five” of Michigan in the early 1990s. Sophomore’s Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Polythress—while still very raw themselves—will have to provide leadership for this young class. Julius Randle can dunk the basketball with the best of them and has supreme athleticism, as I witnessed in the Elite 24 High School All-American Game. And the two Harrison twins, Andrew and Aaron, should complement each other in a fantastic backcourt for the ‘Cats!

Louisville Cardinals

I gotta show a ton of respect for the defending champs here, because, well, they know how to win and they will bring almost everybody back. And as former point guard Peyton Siva said, “This year’s team could even be better than last year’s team!” JUCO transfer Chris Jones takes over the point guard duties and is more of a pure point. He can score and dish. He will get a lot of alley-oop chances with high leaper Montrez Harrell. Chane Bohanon is a force down low for the Cardinals.

Sports Parents

I think anyone who has played sports can tell from my title exactly what this blog post will be about. Every athlete at one point in their youth has had to experience the annoying and bothersome occurrence of/a crazy sport parent/s. Hopefully your parents were never one of these, but if they were, one I will pray for you, and two this is by no means a personal attack on them. I bet they parented you quite well.

What I'm going on about is the parents of children in sports who have to constantly be involved with whats going on, call the coach on a daily basis making sure their son/daughter will get playing time, yell as loud as they can at the games, not only at their own child, but at the refs or other team, and hold their child's hand through just about every step of their young sports career. It's these parents that just ruin the sporting events for not only their own child, but also everyone else around.

I've seen these crazy sports parents at many a soccer game and they never fail to add a certain level of entertainment to the game, at least for me. For the child of the parent/s though, I feel pretty bad. Not only is it embarrassing to have a mother or father yelling at you, but it's also annoying as heck. I don't know this from experience, because my parents have been very good about me and sports, but the kids I've talked to who have to deal with parents like that always talk about them in a negative light and I think it leads kids to poor relationships with their parents.

There's my little preaching for the day. Hope you all enjoyed, and like I said, no offense to the crazy parents out there.