NBA's Top 10 Dunks of 2010

Bears Released Tommie Harris

 The Chicago Bears released veteran defensive tackle Tommie Harris on Monday. This means they cut a three-time Pro Bowl pick that had struggled in recent years because of injuries.  The Bears also released linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer and offensive tackle Kevin Shaffer.  Tommie was a Pro Bowl pick from 2005 to 2007 and he was limited by knee and hamstring problems the past few years and never regained his old beast form. He signed a four-year, $40 million extension in June 2008 and was locked in through 2012, but the Bears decided to cut him after several ineffective seasons. “We made out determinations on what we need to do, we talked about every player, and when you talk about players, you’re always talking about their contracts, you’re talking about their performance, you’re talking about their attitude and how it applies to the team,” general manager Jerry Angelo said.  Harris was a force against Green Bay in September and finished the season with 13 tackles and 1 1/2 sacks in 15 games. He was held out of a game last year and got suspended by the team for one in 2008 because of detrimental conduct.  In seven seasons, he had 286 tackles, 28 1/2 sacks, 38 tackles for loss, six forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries and one interception.  Wish him luck in finding a new team.

Adam Wainwright Injured

The 29-year old righty starting pitcher Adam Wainwright is going to miss the entire 2011 season for the Cardinals as he underwent Tommy John Surgery. The Tommy John surgery will keep Adam Wainwright out for 12 to 15 months. That is a very serious injury and even more serious surgery. Adam Wainwright injured himself in a bullpen session early last week. Adam Wainwright pitched in 33 games, and started in all of them, for the Cardinals last season and he was 20-11 with a 2.42 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He finished in 2nd place two years in a row for the N.L. CY Young Award. Wainwright has pitched in 182 games (119 starts) in six years with the Cardinals and he is 66-35 with 3 saves, a 2.97 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. This is a huge loss for the Cardinals’ pitching staff as Wainwright was the boss at the top of the rotation. He will be impossible for the Cardinals to replace. Adam Wainwright was an All-Star and he is an amazing pitcher. Luckily for Adam, he is only 29 and this will not end his career. I feel bad for the great players, in any sport, that have their careers end over injuries. The Cardinals will do just fine without him though.

Pistons Boycott Practice

In  some type of player protest, Tracy McGrady, Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Chris Wilcox were missing from a shootaround before the game against the Philadelphia 76ers.  The team spokesman Cletus Lewis said that Rodney Stuckey and Austin Daye missed the team bus as well, but they did arrive toward the end of the media session.  Lewis said McGrady had a headache, Prince had an upset stomach and Hamilton and Wilcox missed the bus from the team hotel.  Ben Wallace also missed the shootaround. Lewis said Wallace was dealing with a family matter. Wallace has missed games and practices over the past month because of the issue.  Only Greg Monroe, Will Bynum, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Jason Maxiell and DaJuan Summers were full participants in the morning shootaround.  There are signs that the discontent is directed at Pistons coach John Kuester, who has clashed with players repeatedly this season. The organization downplayed the absences, insisting Prince and McGrady were ill.  The Pistons' organization is staying on the side of John Kuester in this disagreement.  This is a very serious matter because the Pistons' organization is on the brink of disaster.  Just a few years ago they won a championship, but now they are towards the bottom of the NBA.

Philadelphia Phillies

Everyone is talking about the Philadelphia Phillies.  Personally I think they are not that good, but here is a little description of their team.  The Phillies didn't make a lot of move in the offseason, but they didn't really need to.   In one of the biggest deals of the offseason, Starting pitcher Cliff Lee signed to return to Philadelphia for a five-year, $120 million deal. Indications pointed that Lee would re-sign with the Rangers or sign a $150 million deal with the Yankees.  He is an All-Star pitcher and he is not even the Phillie’s number one pitcher.  None of the Phillie’s pitchers went below .500 last season in winning percentage.                                           The Phillies' current starting pitching is incredible. Here it is:

Roy Halladay (21-10, 2.44 ERA, 219 SO)

Lee (12-9, 3.19 ERA, 185 SO)

Cole Hamels (12-11, 3.06 ERA, 211 SO)

Roy Oswalt (13-13, 2.76 ERA, 193 SO)

Joe Blanton (9-6, 4.82 ERA, 134 SO)

Second basemen Chase Utley, short stop Jimmy Rollins, third basemen Placido Polanco and outfielder Shane Victorino are returning at full health after suffering injuries last season the were key parts to the Phillie’s failure of getting to the World Series.  Now that they are all back, the Phillie’s defense and offense are back to normal and their pitching rotation is insane. 

Raw Video: Women's Basketball Brawl

Carmelo Anthony Finally Traded

The Denver Nuggets have lost their superstar in Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks.  The Denver Post reported last night that Anthony was traded to the New York Knicks in a huge deal.  Denver will send Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, and Renaldo Balkman to the New York Knicks.  The Nuggets get Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, Wilson Chandler, New York's 2014 first-round draft pick, Golden State's 2012 second-round pick and 2013 second-round pick along with $3 million in cash.  "I'm glad it’s over," Nuggets coach George Karl said.  George Karl thinks that it is an opportunity to reinvent.  The Nuggets have had mild success over the last few years but their offense has been centered on Carmelo Anthony.  They are going to need to develop young players and establish teamwork to be successful. Carmelo has wanted to be traded to New York because he thinks he will win a championship there.  Minnesota has also got into this big deal. The Minnesota Timberwolves will get Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry from the New York Knicks. The Knicks will get Corey Brewer, who is an explosive guard that is known for his defense.  The Denver Nuggets picked Carmelo Anthony third overall in the 2003 NBA draft. He averaged 24.8 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game with his seven seasons as a Nugget.  Goodbye Denver, Hello New York.  

WNBA

Great season last season.  The Atlanta Dream made a wonderful run at the championship.  Seattle did win but those ladies gave it their all. The Dream defeated the Washington Mystics in the conference semi-finals.  It was a tough two games where the Dream won 95-90 in the first game and 101-77 in the second game. That ended the Mystics' season, but they all had good sportsmanship about it.  Then the Dream blew by the New York Liberty to get to the finals against Seattle.  Angel McCoughtry was the leader of the Atlanta Dream.  She averaged 2.3 Assists per Game and 2 Steals per Game.  Those are some impressive stats.  But more impressive than all of those, she led the team in scoring with 26.7 Points per Game!  On the down side, she had 3.14 Turn overs per Game.  But her stats went down in the finals.  She averaged 25 Points per Game and only 2 Assists per game and .67 Steals per Game.  The Atlanta Dream's second star player, Iziane Castro Marques, also known as Izi, stepped it up big time in the finals with 20.3 Points per Game and 1.3 Assists per Game.  Overall, Atlanta is a fierce and young team and the future is looking good over the horizon.