June 24th update

Cavs select Irving with #1 pick in NBA Draft

- Derrick Williams went #2 as expected to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Turkish big man Enes Kanter went #3 to the Utah Jazz. See the complete results here.
- Kanter led a procession of international players as players #3-7 were all born outside of the United States (only Tristan Thompson, a Canadian, played NCAA basketball).
- Multiple trades were made, including one between the Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks, and Charlotte Bobcats that landed Sportico favorite Bismack Biyombo in Charlotte and Jimmer Fredette in Sacramento among others.
- The kids came to play! Washington State's Klay Thompson who was taken #11 by Golden State, is the son of 1978 #1 overall pick Mychal Thompson. A son of a former NBA player has been drafted for 9 straight seasons now.


Women's World Cup Begins Sunday in Germany

- The 16-country quadrennial soccer tournament is being held in Germany this time, as the US looks to win their first title since 1999. The German team has won the last two tournaments and is the odds-on favorite to win this tournament as well.
- The United States team is confident heading into the World Cup having won a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. They also have one of the most prolific goal scorers in the game, in Abby Wambach, and arguably the best goaltender in Hope Solo. The US team has finished 3rd in the last 2 World Cups.
- Brazilian superstar Marta is looking to cement her billing as the best female soccer player active, and make a run at the best ever. Leading soccer-crazed Brazil to a World Cup victory would go a long way toward helping her claim that title.


NFL Lockout: What's going on?

- Late June/Early July should be a time when NFL teams are signing their newly drafted players, and looking for free agent to fill out their rosters. Instead, due to labor disagreements, team owners have locked out and cut off all contact with their players, making a delayed start to the 2011 season possible.
- The disagreement largely comes down to... get ready for this... money! The NFL earns approximately $9 billion in annual revenues. The disagreement is over what percentage of that revenue should go to owners (who have taken risks in buying their teams and are looking for a return) or the players (who are the workers, and are more and more realizing the physical toll the game takes on their bodies in the long run).
- Owners claim the cut they had previously been receiving (approximately $5B of the $9 billion) was not enough to cover expenses and grow the game. Players have demanded to see financial records to prove these points, but have been denied access to these records by the owners.
- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is the main negotiator for the owners, he is joined by owners Jerry Jones, Jerry Richardson, and Robert Kraft (Owners of the Dallas Cowboys, Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots respectively). NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith is the lead negotiator for the players, and is joined by players Mike Vrabel, Jeff Saturday, and Tony Richardson.

June 22nd update

Marlins snap streak under tutelage of Octogenarian

- The Florida Marlins won for the first time in 11 games on Tuesday. They had lost 18 of their previous 19 which led their former manager Edwin Rodriguez to resign over the weekend.
- Taking the place of Rodriguez is 80 year old Jack McKeon. McKeon is in his second stint as the manager of the Marlins after leading the team to the 2003 World Series Championship.
- He is managing many players who are young enough to be his great-grandsons, and none of them were even alive when he first managed a game, on April 6th, 1973.
- Noting the change in seasons, McKeon quipped: "We're a summer team. Today's the first day of summer, and we like to play much better baseball in the summer than we do in the spring. So watch out from now on, because summer's here and we're here."


2011 NBA Draft - June 23rd, 7 PM

- This year's draft will kick off with the Cleveland Cavaliers making the #1 pick. Although there are exciting players in this year's draft, it is considered relatively weak compared to other year's drafts by experts. Duke's Kyrie Irving and Arizona's Derrick Williams are considered to be the two most likely to become impact players.
- The Cavs were awarded the #1 pick (as well as the #4 pick) in the draft lottery, which awards weaker teams a good chance of getting higher picks, but makes it less likely that a team will tank, or purposely lose games at the end of the season to secure a coveted player in the draft. They hope the 2 high draft picks will help them build a contender again after losing Lebron James last season.
- Check out the full draft order here.

Player Profiles
- Kyrie Irving – This highly recruited point guard out of Duke is widely expected to be drafted #1 overall. Irving suffered a broken foot his only year at Duke leaving him to play in only 11 games throughout the season. Many experts question how effective he will be as a player in a league when he will have to play at least 82 games after never having played more than 30.
- Derrick Williams – The forward from Arizona is versatile enough to play power forward or small forward due to his combination of strength, quickness and shooting skill ans should immediately contribute to whichever team takes him. Despite not being a very highly rated player coming out of high school, Williams had a terrific college career and nearly led Arizona to the Final 4 in 2011.
- Kemba Walker – An explosive scorer and playmaker, Walker carried his UConn Huskies team to the 2011 National Championship. Despite being undersized, he has proven to be a remarkable leader as he willed his young team to a season ending 12-game winning streak. He is expected to be drafted between 4th and 10th overall.
- Jimmer Fredette – The BYU guard was a mega-star this college basketball season, leading the nation in scoring while taking his team to an impressive Sweet 16 showing in the NCAA tournament. Experts predict he will be picked in the middle of the first round, but will take some time to develop into a complete NBA player, especially on defense.

- A number of international players also figure to be drafted high this year including:
Enes Kanter – From Turkey, Kanter was going to play at Kentucky before being ruled ineligible by the NCAA.
Jan Vesely – This Czech made his name playing in Europe and is considered the most NBA-ready European player in the group.
Bismack Biyombo – The Congolese player is an athletic freak who should be a great defender and rebounder, but may have to work on his offensive game. Seems like an all-around good guy as well.