Every now and then when I check the scores and stories of the day, I come across pictures that are funny, sad, or downright creepy. Either way, every picture screams to me, “Please put a caption under me Nelson!
I would like to introduce to you all a new segment here at Sore Sports called “Caption Chat”.
“Damn ‘Melo that jersey’s soft! What is this Velvet!?!?”
Photo taken by the Associated Press
Hey Jeff Green! Could you switch jerseys with Kendrick Perkins real quick?
Wow. Just Wow. Being born a Boston Celtics fan where I have followed them from the lowest of lows to their last couple of years of becoming relevant through the eyes of basketball fans again, I did not see this trade coming. I mean I knew that Danny Ainge was itching to make a splash before the trade deadline but I didn’t think he was going to create a tidal wave that would alter the basketball landscape in Boston.
In a surprising move that left teammates and fans in a state of shock, the Boston Celtics sent Kendrick Perkins and guard Nate Robinson to the Oklahoma City Thunder for forward Jeff Green (who was originally drafted by the Celtics and traded to the Sonics in 2007) and veteran center Nenad Krstic. Not finished with wheeling and dealing, Ainge then proceeded to trade rookies Semih Erden and Luke Harangody to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a 2013 second-round draft pick from Minnesota and finally shipping out Marquis Daniels, to the Sacramento Kings for a 2017 protected second-round draft pick. Too many transactions for one day am I right? You still with me?
While almost every blog post, forum comment, and expert analysis have deemed this a team gutting and that Danny Ainge has lost his marbles, it took me a few hours to realize what his frame of mind was when making these deals. We all know that Celtics Management’s main goal is to build a future after the Big Three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. What people don’t realize is that a great portion of the team’s salary is taken up by the Big Three and Rajon Rondo.
After taking a quick look at the Celtics’ Team Salary, Danny has a lot of players with expiring contracts with Perkins and Glen “Big Baby” Davis being among the cream of the crop. Perkins already rejected a contract extension and with big men in high demand in the league, Ainge had to pull the trigger and ship the big man to get some value in return. From a business sense, I have to applaud Ainge for making the trades. Of course the Celtics are a much smaller team but the upside is that you have a young athletic player with Jeff Green, a few future draft picks, and a better offensive center with Nenad Krstic (even though he’s a complete nutcase for throwing a chair during an in-game brawl). Will the team gel in time for a deep playoff run? Is Danny going to pick up possible buyout players Troy Murphy, Rip Hamilton, and Samuel Dalembert? So many questions so little time left in the season and only time will tell.
Carmelo Anthony is back home in the Big Apple!
After months of trade talks where destinations ranged from New Jersey to Houston and contemplating the idea of playing the “Let’s hope that our star will re-sign” game (that plan worked wonders for the Cleveland Cavaliers), the Denver Nuggets finally agreed to ship Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman to the New York Knicks in exchange for Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and a 2014 first-round draft pick. Before Carmelo landed into NYC, New Yorkers began laying out the red carpet and claimed him as the King of the Garden - Heck, even the famous Carnegie Deli laid out all the fixins and created the Melo Sandwich.
With all the hype surrounding Anthony, where does this leave current Knick star and former King of the Garden Amare Stoudemire? While he has shown excitement for Melo’s arrival, one can’t help but wonder about Amare’s true feelings. Is it possible that he feels that Carmelo will now be seen as “The Man” in the city or does he think that they truly can co-exist on the same big stage? Either way, Knicks fans are just happy that basketball is now relevant again and that the new Dynamic Duo in the east will definitely cause nothing short of excitement.
This sports blog has been a long time coming. I always wanted to write about the things that I love and hate about sports but my plans were often halted by the usual distractions: moving from one side of the country to another, various jobs through an array of industries completely unrelated to my college degree, relationships that crashed and burned (all of my ex-girlfriends’ faults naturally), and of course watching sports. There were times in between everything where I thought I would never get this blog off the ground but life had a funny way of nudging me in the right direction.
I left my hometown in New England and ended up in Northern California as a video editor creating original content for a video game news site and came across an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up - An editor approached me with the opportunity to help him cover the upcoming sports game at the time which was NBA JAM. As we headed to EA Vancouver to film the process of creating NBA JAM, I spoke with the game designers and learned about their love of all sports and how it helped them with the project. In between shoots we talked basketball, hockey and possible playoff scenarios with our favorite teams. When the entire shoot was over and we headed back home, I realized that although I liked video games and my job, I LOVED sports much more. A few months later, after much deliberation and sleepless nights, I decided to leave my job and pursue my dreams of writing about sports more (yes I know… I am THAT CRAZY for sports).
I am very excited to be sharing my thoughts about the huge world of sports with everyone on this platform and I hope that I will run across some great sports fans along the way! Cheers to you all and look out for more posts from yours truly!
Nelson Laut
