Lakers' championship drought is over!

 

Going into this season many analysts made The Los Angeles Clippers the favorites to become NBA champions, followed by The Milwaukee Bucks and The Los Angeles Lakers. The critics also said that the Clippers was a more talented roster than Lakers, they questioned Antonio Davis pedigree as a player that Lebron can depend on. It is safe to say that they didn't see a Lakers' championship coming. Credit must be given to Laker's General Manager, Rob Pelinka on trading for AD and then assembling together a roster in a short space of time. Lebron and AD was another factor that Lakers' won. Lebron proved why arguably the greatest player of all time and AD proved he is not a first round playoff player but has tangibles to win a championships.

Winning this season's NBA championship has to be the hardest  because of not only COVID-19, where the NBA players were confined in a bubble for 3 months to protect them from the virus, the new normal was in effect. Many players found this difficult to adjust too.  Another disease was spreading over the world, which is racial equality. At one point, there was a possibility that the season may be cancelled because of the players standing for this cause. It is just impressive how mentally locked in the Lakers' players and coaching staff were.

In the last decade, the Lakers' have had their share of struggle. From Kobe Bryant's Achilles heel injury, his retirement and untimely death to fighting for lottery picks and not making the playoffs for six years. Now it's an opportunity to start a new era of dominance. At the end of the day all this great franchise want is some DAMN RESPECT! 

Manchester United In Shambles

What a catastrophe of a transfer market, it was for Manchester United? The supporters at the beginning of the transfer market on July 27th was excited about the possibility of signing 20 year old Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. Here is a player that has the potential to be next great talent in football. The supporters were encouraged that this could be a reality since personal terms with the player had been agreed and Sancho wanted to play for the club. It has been said that, it is the hope that kills you and many supporters were killed psychologically when the transfer window closed on October 5th and Sancho remained a Borussia Dortmund player.

What went wrong? Let's review the facts. Borussia Dortmund asked for a sum of 120 million euros from Manchester United to prized Sancho from them at a deadline of August 10th. Manchester United didn't abide by either of those stipulations but it's just my theory that Ed Woodward, Matt Judge and company believed that they could bully Borussia Dortmund on the final week of the transfer window by submitting a bid lower than what they asked for and they would cave in. If you look at Borussia Dortmund's history of selling players they never yield to buying clubs. So I ask you, why this wasn't something, Ed Woodward and Matt Judge didn't research? The dynamic duo made the club look like amateurs as their gamble didn't come off. To cover up their embarrassment, they panic signed Edinson Cavani, a 33 year old striker from Paris Saint Germain, who has been plagued with injuries in the last couple years. It hasn't been all bad news because the signings of Donny van de Beek from Ajax and Alex Telles from FC Porto are quality signings who will add dept to the squad but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has not been backed by the board. A Center Back and a Right Winger was needed. The board failed the manager.

This catastrophic transfer market is just another example of the club not backing the manager year after year. It comes to a point that the supporters of this club must stop buying merchandize and when unfollow them on social media. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Covid 19 Impact

The Covid 19 coronavirus has infected most countries, at the time of writing there have been 15,000 deaths. I never saw this coming but who did? What is shocking to me is the rapid infection rate globally that has put a strain on global economies and social integration and sport. As an avid sports fan not being able to watch games, read the latest news of my favorite sports teams like The Lakers, Manchester United and West Indies is very stressful. Sport has always been a place to escape from what is going on in the world but with this pandemic, you can't even do that.


I am staying positive in the hope that things will get better. This virus won't last forever, either it dies all together or a vaccine is created.

Thank You Kobe Bean Bryant

Kobe Bryant loved the game of basketball. He dedicated every single day of his playing career on honing his craft and getting better. He sourced advice from legends on how he can take his game to the next level. He was inspired by Micheal Jordan, who he even mimicked some of his moves He has to be one of the most misunderstood players in the NBA. Critics often said he is too arrogant and self-absorbed but you see when Kobe entered the NBA from high school, he was a boy in a league full of men. He couldn't interact with them, so what he did instead was work hard at his game, which drove him to be the best, this alienated teammates early in his career but later he realized that he needed to be a team player and provide a source of leadership to win championships.


Some of my most cherished memories in my life, have been made through the exploits of Kobe Bean Bryant in his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, which included 5 NBA Championships and dozens of game-winning shots.

Caribbean Premier League 2019 Review

The seventh season of The Caribbean Premier League concluded with the final on Saturday night, where The Guyana Amazon Warriors and Barbados Tridents contested the final at The Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad. It has been another great season where there was an emergence of young talent coming to the fore in Jamaican batsman, Brandon King, who opened the first time in his career, scoring a tournament-leading 496 runs and United States’ Hayden Walsh Jr. who led the wicket-takers with 22 wickets.

Bat and ball competed on a level playing field. There was drama throughout, which included a super over between Trinbago Knight Riders and St.Kitts Patriots. Going into the playoffs, I believed that  Guyana Amazon Warriors would break their duck and win the CPL for the first time. They were by far the best all-round team in the tournament, but momentum is everything, especially in sport. Barbados Tridents at one point in time, was struggling to make the playoffs, but believed in themselves and achieved second place in the league format and proceeded to achieve one of the biggest upsets in the CPL by beating the GAW in the final. As a neutral fan, that is what you for in a global tournament. Hollywood executives could not have written a better script. It would be boring that the clear favorite from ball one win. I always like rooting for the underdog.

Congrats to everybody who was involved in making CPL 2019 a success.

Club In Crisis

This year makes it twenty(20) years as a supporter of Manchester United football club. This is the worst squad of players ever assembled. Some of these players deserved to play in Major League Soccer not the premier league. The players should not be held responsible for all the problems at the club but instead, they should share the responsibility with The Glazers, Ed Woodward, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.


The Glazers is the root of the problem that exists in Manchester United because they are not knowledgeable about football and only care about making money. They hired Ed Woodward, an investment banker, to be responsible for the football side of the club. It is not a surprise that the recruitment of players and managers that were hired have been poor during his tenure, which in turn has resulted in poor performances, which will result in the Glazers selling the club because sponsors will leave.


I was overjoyed when Ole, a  legend of the club, took the wheel as the caretaker manager and adopted a 4-3-3 formation, which produced a more attacking style of football, that Manchester United fans' are accustomed too. I was excited to see the team performed like this, and like many fans, demanded that the club make him the permanent manager. The owners and the chief executive should have waited for the end of the season and then assess Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer's performance as a care-taker manager and whether he should be considered as a permanent manager or if the club has to look elsewhere. This wasn't done and soon after he was made official, the team played badly, where they failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. This poor performance has continued into the new season, where Ole has, for some reason, adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation, where the team is more defensive. The reason for this change has to do with a lack of investment in midfield and in the attack by the club. He had to over-compensate in defense, where the club recruited well in the summer.

 I can't comprehend that the club is in a RELEGATION BATTLE. It breaks my heart and pains me to see the level of performance. Manchester United no longer receive banter from opposing teams in the premier league but instead are offered sympathy on where the club is at this moment.

Who is to blame for Manchester United's worst start in 27 years?

Manchester United have their worst start to a season since the Premier League was formed in 1992. Who should be held accountable? The owners, the manager or players or a combination of all three?

The Glazers should be held responsible because they hired four(4) managers in seven( 7 )years since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement. They appointed an investment banker, Ed Woodward to oversee the football side of Manchester United. While Ed Woodward should be held accountable for the club's failings in the transfer market, remember Ed Woodward has to learn on the job. The Glazers should have appointed an individual who is experienced in talking to football agents, clubs and negotiating player contracts. They also have not supported Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer in the transfer market because Manchester United needed midfield reinforcements as they released Ander Hererra this season and sold Mourane Fellaini last season. They improved the defense by signing Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan Bissaka but the midfield remains weak. The midfield is not the only area of weakness, but upfront as well because they loaned out Alexis Sanchez for the season and sold Romelu Lukaku but didn't replace either.

The Glazers are the root of Manchester United's problems because they value making a profit and filling their pockets, rather than winning trophies which should be the aim of a club with the stature of Manchester United. The Glazers have not contributed to the club's profit margin, in fact, they brought debt into the club which, they have yet to pay off. Besides this, the club has made a profit under the Glazers. This is due to fans attending games and purchasing merchandise. The Glazers must sell because they have not improved Manchester United. The Glazers will only sell the club when they can no longer make a profit, which is all they care about. Manchester United fans' only hope is that they receive an offer to sell, that they just can't refuse.