FIBA Championships

Its my third day on campus as a freshman at Hanover College. Everything has been great so far, and I am having lots of fun. That being said, what can be better than sitting on my laptop and watching Canada vs. France and China vs. Puerto Rico on www.espn3.com, which by the way, is a college students best friend. The United States was able to withstand a scare from the Brazilian team. I know that in international play lower scores are the norm, but I will say that the U.S. is going to need to score more than 70 points if they want a chance to win the title. I am sure that every team in the tourney is hoping they can hold the athletic Americans to 70 points, because if that is the case, it will always be close at the end. Anyway, just wanted to give a shout out to www.espn3.com.

Team USA vs. Greece

The final roster has been set, and the final exhibition game has been played. Team USA is ready to take on the World Championships which begin on Saturday. The roster was completed after Rajon Rondo decided not to continue playing with the team citing family reasons. Eric Gordon, Chauncey Billups, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Rudy Gay, Danny Granger, Lamar Odom, and Andre Iguodala will be competing for the United States team.

In today's game game against Greece, a 87-59 win for the U.S., a couple of things stood out in my eyes. For one, the international competition cannot keep up with our quickness and athletic ability. Guards like Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook are able to just run around their defenders. However, the physicality of the international big men does not lend well for our small interior. Tyson Chandler is our only true center, leaving Lamar Odom and Kevin Love to guard guys who are bigger than them. Overall, this group of "B-List" NBA players seems to be coming together very nicely. Eric Gordon, who lead the way with 18 points, continues to be very impressive. The combination of strength and quickness that Gordon and Rose have, along with the length and lightening speed of Westbrook will simply over match the competition.

The U.S. has not won a FIBA World Championship since 1994. This year they will play in Group B alongside Brazil, Croatia, Iran, Slovenia, and Tunisia. With the talent that we have, I look for a strong run from the Americans.

4 Team, 5 Player Swap in the NBA

In this deal, Trevor Ariza has been sent from the Houston Rockets to New Orleans. New Orleans gave up Darren Collison to the Indiana Pacers, the Pacers also received James Posey from the Hornets. The Pacers sent Troy Murphy to the Nets, while the Nets shipped Courtney Lee to Houston. Most notably, this gets rid of Chris Paul's backup in New Orleans, is this a sign that he is staying put? Only time will tell. So to recap...

Houston Rockets:Received-Courtney Lee. Traded-Trevor Ariza.

Indiana Pacers:Received-Darren Collison, James Posey. Traded-Troy Murphy.

New Orleans Hornets:Received-Trevor Ariza. Traded-Darren Collison.

New Jersey Nets:Received:Troy Murphy. Traded: Courtney Lee.

Reds vs. Cardinals

The Reds need to win today's game for many reasons, the most obvious being to retain 1st place in the NL Central. However, losing today's game could mean much more than looking up in the standings to the rival Cardinals. After Reds 2nd Baseman Brandon Phillips expressed his hatred of the division rival, today's winner-take-first match up becomes all the more interesting. Losing 3 straight games to any team can set a you back, but 3 games that you were so emotionally involved in will hurt even more. I am afraid that a sweep could start a snowball affect for Cincinnati. If the Reds can right the ship, however, that will give them a major confidence boost, knowing they only have 3 more games with St. Louis before the season is over. Today's game may go a long way to answering the question of who will come out on top in the NL Central.

Reds Continue to Hold on, Closer is a Question Mark

Being a Reds fan, nothing makes me happier than being able to look at the standings in August and see my team in 1st place. For the first time in quiet some time, Reds fans have hope of making the playoffs going into the stretch run of the season. However, even after taking the last 2 games from the division rival Cubs, I am worried about one role, closer. He hasn't pitched well in many of his outings last year, and his control is what scares me the most. In his last 2 outings, he has pitched 1 and 1/3 innings, walking 5 and hitting one batter. To make matters worse, he entered each of those games with a 3 run lead! It is so sickening to watch a professional pitcher walk into a game with his team leading by 3 runs and have him walk the very first batter like Cordero managed to do today. When you have a lead like that just throw fastballs down the middle until the opponent atleast gets the tying run to the plate. When nobody is on base, if somebody goes yard, who cares? Just throw strikes!!! Most of the time, especially when you have the velocity Co-Co Cordero has, if you just throw smoke you will get outs. The scary part is, I honestly don't think he can throw the ball over the plate when he wants to. As a fan of the team, I certainly hope he can turn it around because without him I don't know if we can hold of the Cardinals, but at some point the organization just needs to turn the page.

MLB Update, Trade Deadline Winners

This season's most surprising team, the Texas Rangers, decided to make even more of a splash by completely dominating the market at the trade deadline. Not only did they pick up a legitimate ace in lefty Cliff Lee, they also added a solid catcher in Bengie Molina, a good bat in Jorge Cantu, and a good utility guy in Christian Guzman. It looks like the Rangers should have the Al West locked up.

As usual, the Yankees made a big move at the deadline, adding a big bat in Lance Berkman who will contribute mostly as a DH in New York. They also bolstered the bullpen with the addition of Kerry Wood. Austin Kearns also was moved to New York.

As a Reds fan I hate to admit it, but the Cardinals ended up making out pretty well. Even after missing out on Roy Oswalt, they managed to add Jake Westbrook to their already solid starting rotation. The Cardinals did have to give up Ryan Ludwig, but now they have possibly the deepest rotation in the National League, and the ability to match up with the Reds as far as pitching goes.

Obviously, the defending National League Champion, Philadelphia Phillies were winners as well by adding Roy Oswalt. Even though he did lose his first start in the new uniform, with Oswalt added to a rotation already consisting of Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels, the Phillies will be a threat to make a run into the post season once again.