Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Craig Sager no longer in remission

TNT announcer, Craig Sager revealed that the acute myeloid leukemia he has battled for the last two years is no longer in remission. This, unfortunately, isn't the first setback Sager has suffered during his fight. Mere weeks after being cleared to resume television work in March of 2015, his leukemia returned, forcing him to step away from his assignments during the 2015 NCAA Tournament and "NBA on TNT" once more. After several more moths of treatment, including a transplant of bone marrow donated by his son, Sager came back for the NBA's 2015-16 Media Day in September.

Sager continues to make monthly trips to Houston throughout the season, and was healthy enough to resume his responsibilities at the NBA's annual All- Star Weekend in Toronto, but his status took a turn last month.

Sager plans to continue carrying out his NBA responsibilities and maintaining his presence on "NBA on TNT." During an interview with HBO, Sager said, "Still kicking, still fighting. I haven't won the battle. It's not over yet. But I haven't lost it, either. There have been some victories and some setbacks, but I still have to fight it. A lot of work to do." Unfortunately, doctors told him that he had 3- to- 6 moths to live. Sager also said, "I think my demise has been prematurely reported. I think I'm going to kick this and make medical history and I really believe that."

Everyone around the world and people in the NBA are standing behind Craig Sager during this difficult time. He is a great role model, showing people to never give up!

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Von Miller and Antonio Brown move it on Dancing with the Stars

Super Bowl 50 MVP, Von Miller, and Steelers MVP, Antonio Brown, and made their debut on Dancing with the Stars. During their performance, Miller and Brown stayed true to their NFL teams and colors. Miller was decked out in a shiny blue suit trimmed with beads, an orange tie and pocket square and his signature glasses. Brown wore black and a very- shiny gold vest and bowtie.

It's pretty neat to see NFL stars taking time out of their busy schedule to be on popular dancing show. Their scores were among the best of the night, leaving them in contention to follow former NFL standouts Emmitt Smith, Hines Ward, and Donald Driver, all of whom won the DWTS title.

Tune in on Mondays at 8:00 pm to catch Von Miller and Antonio Brown.


Monday, March 21, 2016

DraftKings, DanDuel to stop in NY

To happen immediately, daily fantasy sites DraftKings and FanDuel will stop operating paid contests in New York. In exchange, NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will wait until an appeals hearing is held to pursue underlying litigation that, if successful, would force these fantasy sites to pay restitution to participants who lost money playing the sites' games. Schneiderman believes that daily fantasy sports violate state gambling laws. The daily fantasy sites have argued that they offer games of skill, not games of chance, and as such are in compliance with state and federal laws. New York residents were responsible for more than $267 million in entry fees and $24.8 million in revenue for daily fantasy sites in 2015, making it the second- largest DFS state behind California.




Sunday, March 20, 2016

Upsets. Upsets. And More Upsets.

Round one of the NCAA March Madness tournament had a lot of upsets. We saw teams like Michigan State, Baylor, and Cal loose, while teams like Middle Tennessee State, Yale, and Hawaii pick up wins over these top teams. Out of the roughly 13million entries in the ESPN Tournament Challenge, none of them are perfect. Nobody thought that Middle Tennessee State would beat Michigan State, as most people had them making it to the Final Four and Championship game.

Middle Tennessee players
celebrate after knocking off
Michigan State.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

James Conner is back.... well almost

James Connor participates in drills amid
Cancer treatment.
Just 24 hours after chemotherapy treatment number 8, Pitt Panther Running Back, James Conner joined his teammates on the field for spring practice. Conner was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in December. After his diagnosis, he said, "When I heard those words-- 'You have cancer'-- I admit I was scared. But after thinking about it for a bit, I realized that fear is a choice. I choose to not fear cancer. I choose to fight it and I will win it." Although he cannot participate in contact drills because of the port, his presence on the field, is enough to excite his teammates. Connor has said multiple times that he hopes to play in Pitt's season opener September 3 against Villanova.









Sunday, March 13, 2016

Martavis Bryant facing year long suspension

Bryant (#10) goes up for a catch against
Josh Gordy (#27) of the
Indianapolis Colts.
It was confirmed on Saturday, that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant is facing a year long suspension related to the NFL drug policy. Last year, Bryant served a four- game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. He is fighting depression and has plans to enter rehab to help cope with his depression. Bryant has plans to appeal his suspension. If the year long suspension does hold up, he will have to be reinstated in the NFL by the commissioner.




Thursday, March 10, 2016

Sharapova admits to failing a drug test

Sharapova speaking out at press conference on Monday
After rumors swirled about Maria Sharapova announcing retirement, she revealed during a press conference that she had failed a drug test at the Australian Open in January. Sharapova said the drug that she was taking was Meldonium and it had been prescribed by her doctor because she has a magnesium deficiency and a family history of diabetes. The drug had not been on the banned list for the past 10 years but as of January 1, 2016. the rules changed. It is not known how long she will be held out of competition for. As for any athlete, this is not the way you want to retire from a sport.



Sunday, March 6, 2016

Peyton Manning announces retirment

A look at just how great
Manning was in his
career.
After 18 years in the NFL, 5 MVP's, 2 Super Bowl Championships, and numerous records, Peyton Manning has decided it was time to hang up his shoes. He retires as the all- time leader with 539 regular- season touchdown passes and 71,490 yards. He is also tied with Brett Farve for the most regular- season wins as a starting quarterback with 186, but including playoffs, the total jumps to 200 wins. Manning will forever go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game. He left a legacy on the game of football that will never go unforgotten.









Friday, March 4, 2016

Kendrick Lamar Releases New Album Per LeBron James

Kendrick Lamar receiving a  Grammy.
Who knew that one tweet could influence a music artist. LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers sent out a tweet to Kendrick Lamar about releasing new untitled tracks. Lamar granted James' request by tweeting out his new album, "untitled unmastered" to the world. This shows the impact that social media can have on celebrities. Shortly after Cavs shoot around, James posted a video on his Instragram account of him listening to one of Lamar's songs in his car.