January 6th update

Kings fire coach after spat with player

• The Sacramento Kings made a strong statement in support of young Center Demarcus Cousins on Wednesday night, firing coach Paul Westphal after the two were in a fight. Apparently at the end of a game Cousins began shouting at his coach and demanded to be traded. This has been disputed, but nonetheless Westphal issued this statement through the team's website making it seem like Cousins may indeed be traded.
• Owners rarely side with players in situations like this however Westphal's almost immediate firing afterwards certainly comes as a strong commitment to the talented but mercurial Cousins. Perhaps owners Gavin and Joe Maloof realized that Westphal had permanently damaged his relationship with the center and that he wasn't going to help the team as much in the coming years as a potentially great tandem of Cousins and PG Tyreke Evans.
• Westphal's replacement is King's assistant coach Keith Smart. Smart only played one sesason in the NBA, but has been a coach in the League since 2000; including as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003 and the Golden State Warriors from 2010-2011. Smart is perhaps best known for a shot he hit in college. As a member of the Indiana Hoosiers in 1987, Smart hit a jump shot in the national championship game that that gave the Hoosiers a 74-73 lead at the buzzer to win the championship.


NFL Playoffs Begin this Weekend

• Saturday at 4:30: Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans – The Houston Texans limped into the playoffs but nonetheless get to play at home in their first ever playoff matchup. Starting their third string rookie quarterback and nursing injuries to many of their major position players the Texans are hurting. Luckily they start the playoffs against the Cincinnati Bengals who are a very young and untested team who also starts a rookie QB, Andy Dalton who some are calling "Shawshank" (since his first name is Andy and his hair is Red, the names of the two main characters from that movie).
• Saturday at 8:00: Detroit Lions at New Orleans Saints – Only five times in the history of the NFL has a quarterback thrown for 5'000 yards and 2 of the five were achieved by the two starting QB's in this game (Drew Brees and Matt Stafford) in 2011. That being said it would appear that the Detroit Lions are heading into a buzz saw disguised in a Mardi Gras outfit. The New Orleans Saints are coming off of the best offensive season in NFL history, and will face a Detroit defense that has been kindly described as suspect. The Lions are back in the playoffs after more than a decade of ineptness, but many in Vegas are expecting this to be a blowout in favor of the Saints.
• Sunday at 1:00: Atlanta Falcons at New York Giants – Probably the most evenly matched game of the weekend features the Eli Manning led Giants against the Matt Ryan led Falcons. The Giants are looking to keep their momentum after a big win last weekend against the Dallas Cowboys, while the Falcons are looking to win a playoff game for the first time in more than 5 years.
• Sunday at 4:30: Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos – The Steelers will try and contain the Denver Broncos and QB Tim Tebow, who you may have heard of if you haven't been living under a rock. The Steelers are considered favorites but are dealing with multiple injuries. QB Ben Roethlisburger is nursing a bad ankle sprain, while Safety Ryan Clark and Running Back Rashard Mendenhall have already been ruled out of the game.

December 14th Update

Wednesday Spotlight: Ben Roethlisberger

• Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger ("Big Ben") is known as one of the toughest players in the NFL and we saw another reason why this past week. On Thursday night, late in the second quarter Roethlisberger got hit and had his leg twisted below him. He was helped off the field and diagnosed with a high ankle sprain, an injury that generally takes 2-6 weeks to heal. But after halftime, Big Ben limped out of the locker room onto the field and led his team to a decisive win over division rival (The word rival is used very loosely here) Cleveland Browns.
• Coming out of Miami University of Ohio, Ben was part of the highly touted class of 2004 (including Phillip Rivers and Eli Manning). He was the lowest drafted of the three, at 11th overall, has won more Super Bowl titles (2) than the others (1 combined). In 2005 and in 2008, losing the Super Bowl in 2010 to the Green Bay Packers. Roethlisberger never makes it look pretty, but always seems to find a way to get the ball to the right players and win games, he has never had a losing season.
• Roethlisberger has had some off the field issues, including crashing his motorcycle while not wearing a helmet and an allegation that he took advantage of an intoxicated female in a bathroom of a club. He has avoided negative headlines now for a while and has gotten married. Ben is already one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and is working his way up to the point where he may be voted into the Hall of Fame someday.

Paul Going to Other L.A. Team?

• Last week we reported that Chris Paul was traded to the Lakers only to have the deal vetoed because the Hornets are technically owned by the NBA and some owners complained. Now it looks like he could be going to the Lakers' cross-town rival (Again, the word rival is used very loosely here) the Clippers.
• The Hornets are asking for a kings ransom from the Clippers including up and coming star guard Eric Gordon, youngsters Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe, former All-Star center Chris Kaman and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round draft pick. The Clippers however, have picked up former all-star guard Chauncey Billups this offseason which makes them less desperate to pick up a player like Paul. Even without acquiring him, a core of Billups, Gordon, Blake Griffin and Kaman should be good enough to put them in the playoffs which in recent years has been a rarity in the LA "rivalry".
• On another NBA related note, the Denver Nuggets resigned their Free Agent center Nene. The Brazilian player (who goes by his first name) was widely considered the best free agent left on the market. The Nuggets are in a tough spot with two of their players stuck playing in China until March because they signed there during the lockout and have no way out of their contract until the Chinese season is over.