NFL Draft

The NFL Draft this year was definitely interesting. I am a huge fan of NFL Football and I watch a ton of games. I never get tired of watching NFL Football. I was really excited to watch the Draft this year because of all of the uncertainty of where the top quarterbacks would land.

The top quarterbacks in the Draft this year were Trevor Lawrence from Clemson, Zach Wilson from BYU, Trey Lance from North Dakota State, Justin Fields from Ohio State, and Mac Jones from Alabama. Everyone knew that the Jacksonville Jaguars would select Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick. He was by far the best option at the quarterback position. The New York Jets traded their starting quarterback Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers in the offseason. So they needed to draft a new quarterback with their second overall pick. The Jets selected Zach Wilson, and most people saw this pick coming.

The most intriguing pick of the Draft this year was the third overall pick. The Miami Dolphins originally had the third pick. But the San Francisco 49ers traded up with the Dolphins in order to have the third overall pick. The 49ers current starting quarterback is Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo has dealt with injuries in two of the last three seasons with the 49ers. In addition to his injuries he had not been playing very well recently. So the 49ers wanted to draft a quarterback who will most likely replace Garoppolo. Many NFL analysts believed that San Francisco would draft Mac Jones, or maybe Justin Fields. But the 49ers shocked the NFL world by picking Trey Lance. It was pretty crazy. It was only the third time in NFL Draft history that there were three quarterbacks drafted with the first three picks.

Justin Fields and Mac Jones were still waiting to be drafted. The Draft was at the 11th pick, and Justin Fields had not been drafted yet. Then the Chicago Bears stunned everyone by trading up with the New York Giants from the 20th pick, all the way up to the 11th pick. The Bears then drafted Justin Fields. This was a great move, but we’ll see if Chicago can make it work. I say this because the Bears have never had a franchise quarterback throughout their long history. Mac Jones was projected to be picked at number three overall, and the Draft was now at the 15th pick. The New England Patriots had the 15th pick, and they needed to draft a quarterback. So they drafted Mac Jones, and it was a steal. I could not believe that the Patriots were able to get Mac Jones. I thought for sure that he was going to be drafted earlier. Overall the NFL Draft this year was pretty entertaining to watch.

Cubs Sweep Mets

I just want to start off by saying that I wanted to make a blog post about baseball, because I had not made a blog post about baseball until now. I chose to write about the Chicago Cubs because I am a big Cubs fan. I watch all of their games. Therefore I have more knowledge on the Cubs compared to any other MLB team. So I just wanted to let my readers know that this will be a biased blog post.

The New York Mets took on the Chicago Cubs in a three game series at Wrigley Field. Before this series started the Mets had a record of 7-4. The Cubs had a record of 6-9. The Mets have some really talented players, including Pete Alonso and newly acquired Francisco Lindor. The Cubs hitting had been struggling pretty much all season. But their pitching has been good all year. So I expected this series against the Mets to be tough.

The first game between the Mets and the Cubs was a very close game. This game was more of a pitchers duel. Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta pitched very well. He pitched five innings with only one earned run. Mets pitcher Taijuan Walker pitched 3.2 innings with two earned runs. The Cubs scored one run in the third inning, and two runs in the fourth inning. The Mets scored one run in the fifth inning. The Mets could not score for the rest of the game so the Cubs won 3-1!

The second game was crazy. The Mets were up 2-0 after the third inning. Then the Cubs offense exploded. The Cubs scored seven runs in the fourth inning! The Mets got two more runs in the fifth inning, but the Cubs continued to score as well. The Cubs scored three runs in the fifth inning. So the Cubs were winning 10 to 4 going into the sixth inning. In the sixth inning the Cubs did not stop scoring. Javier Baez hit a grand slam! It was his sixth career grand slam! The Cubs scored two more runs in the eighth inning and went on to win 16-4! A dominating performance!

The final game of this series was a really fun game to watch as well. The Cubs scored three runs in the third inning. After that the Mets scored two runs in the fourth inning. The Mets scored one run in the seventh inning to tie the game at 3-3. Neither team could score in the eighth or ninth inning, so the game went into extra innings. In the tenth inning Jason Heyward came into the game as a pinch hitter for the Cubs with bases loaded. Heyward stepped up to the plate and hit a single, and the Cubs got a walk-off 4-3 win! It was Jason Heyward’s seventh career walk-off hit! The Cubs hitting finally came alive in these three games, and it was great to see them sweep the Mets!

The 85th Masters

The Masters is a tradition unlike any other. Winning the Green Jacket at The Masters Tournament is the most prestigious accomplishment for a professional golfer. Every professional golfer dreams about winning the Masters. The Masters is always an entertaining event, and this year’s tournament was definitely entertaining. It was a little different with limited crowds because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But at least they had some patrons there at Augusta National. Last year’s tournament did not allow any patrons to spectate.

There were some unexpected things that happened at this year’s Masters though. Some very good golfers did not do as well as people thought they would. The defending champion Dustin Johnson did not make the cut for the final two rounds. Jason Day missed the cut for the last two rounds as well. 2012 and 2014 champion Bubba Watson finished at just +1. The most surprising was Will Zalatoris. This was his first Masters appearance, and he finished in second place. It was a very impressive performance.

But the 85th Masters Tournament was really special because of Hideki Matsuyama. He won this year’s Masters Tournament with a one shot lead over Will Zalatoris. Matsuyama made history by becoming the first Japanese man to ever win a major championship! It was pretty incredible! I was actually rooting for Jordan Spieth. He is my favorite golfer. Spieth played well in this tournament, and he finished tied for third place. In his first Masters appearance in 2014 Spieth finished tied for second, in 2015 he won The Masters, in 2016 he should have won it but he tied for second, in 2018 he got third place, and now in 2021 he was tied for third place. That is an amazing career so far at The Masters. Even though I wanted Jordan Spieth to win it all this year, I was happy for Hideki Matsuyama. He is now an inspiration to so many Japanese golfers.

March Madness Championship

The Baylor Bears faced off against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Championship game. But before I talk about the title game, let’s look back at the Final Four games. In the Final Four the 2 seed Houston Cougars played 1 seed Baylor. Baylor crushed Houston. The final score was 78 to 59. In the other Final Four game the 11 seed UCLA Bruins took on number 1 overall seed Gonzaga. The Bruins were huge underdogs, and they played a great game. The game went into Overtime! Gonzaga was up 90 to 88 near the end of Overtime, but then UCLA got a layup to tie the game with 3.3 seconds left. It looked like the game was going into double Overtime. Gonzaga inbounded the ball to freshman Jalen Suggs, and he banked in a half court buzzer beater to win the game 93 to 90! It was unbelievable! I have watched a lot of basketball games, and this was definitely one of the best basketball games I have ever watched. I felt bad for the UCLA team and fans because of how the game ended. But this UCLA team exceeded all expectations. They went from the First Four to the Final Four, and almost became the first 11 seed ever to make it to the Championship game.

The Championship game between Baylor and Gonzaga was a great matchup. Both of these teams had a very high scoring offense. Gonzaga was still undefeated, and both teams were looking to win their first Championship. Before this game the only title game appearance for Gonzaga was in 2017, and Baylor’s only appearance was in 1948. In this game Baylor jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back. Gonzaga never had the lead in the game. They just could not come back. Baylor ruined Gonzaga’s perfect season in a dominant 86-70 win. The difference was the defense of the Bears. I actually predicted that Baylor would win this game because they had a fantastic offense and defense. But I thought that it would be a really close game. I wanted Baylor to beat Gonzaga because they were the underdogs. So even though it was not a close game it was still fun to watch. Overall this March Madness Tournament was pretty crazy.

March Madness Final Four

And then there were four. The Final Four is here and the matchups are definitely interesting. The teams remaining are the Baylor Bears, the Houston Cougars, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, and the UCLA Bruins.

The number 1 overall seed Gonzaga has been cruising past their opponents. In the Sweet 16 they beat 5 seed Creighton 83 to 65. Then in the Elite 8 they defeated 6 seed USC 85 to 66. Gonzaga made it to the Final Four in the 2017 tournament, and now they are back in it again.

Baylor has been taking care of business as well. In the Sweet 16 they beat 5 seed Villanova 62 to 51. In the Elite 8 they beat 3 seed Arkansas 81 to 72. This is Baylor’s first Final Four appearance since 1950.

The next Final Four team is Houston. In the Sweet 16 they took down 11 seed Syracuse 62 to 46. Then in the Elite 8 they defeated 12 seed Oregon State 67 to 61. This is Houston’s first Final Four appearance since 1984.

Then there is this year’s Cinderella team, the 11 seed UCLA Bruins. They have had an incredible run from the First Four to the Final Four. In the Sweet 16 they played Alabama in an amazing game. Alabama made a crazy buzzer beating 3 pointer to send the game into Overtime. But UCLA upset 2 seed Alabama by winning 88 to 78. In the Elite 8 UCLA had another stunning upset, as they beat 1 seed Michigan 51 to 49. No 11 seed has ever advanced to the Championship game. The lowest seed to make it to the Championship game is an 8 seed. UCLA is only the fifth 11 seed team to ever make it to the Final Four. This is the Bruins first Final Four appearance since 2008, and it is their 19th Final Four appearance. UCLA is the only team in this year’s Final Four who has actually won a title, and they have won it 11 times.

With a Championship game berth on the line 11 seed UCLA will be taking on 1 seed Gonzaga. Gonzaga has been playing outstanding offense and defense. It will be interesting to see how UCLA plays against them. The other game in the Final Four is 2 seed Houston against 1 seed Baylor. Houston is one of the best defensive teams in the country. Baylor also has a great defense, and they have a fantastic offense. These Final Four matchups are really intriguing.

March Madness Sweet 16

It’s March, and you know what that means. Madness. This year’s NCAA Men’s Tournament has been really crazy. There are always upsets that happen during March Madness, but this year has been one of the most shocking tournaments in recent history. Out of around 15 million brackets created, none of them were perfect after the first round of the tournament.

The field for the Sweet 16 is set, and these were all of the major upsets that have led up to the Sweet 16. 12 seed Oregon St. upset 5 seed Tennessee, 9 seed Wisconsin upset 8 seed North Carolina, 13 seed North Texas upset 4 seed Purdue in Overtime, 11 seed Syracuse upset 6 seed San Diego St., 13 seed Ohio upset 4 seed Virginia, 11 seed UCLA upset 6 seed BYU, 14 seed Abilene Christian shocked 3 seed Texas, Syracuse had another upset against 3 seed West Virginia, Oregon St. also had a second upset vs. 4 seed Oklahoma St., 7 seed Oregon upset 2 seed Iowa, and 6 seed USC upset 3 seed Kansas. In addition to those upsets, the most stunning team was 15 seed Oral Roberts. They beat the number 2 seed Ohio State in Overtime, and then knocked off the number 7 seed Florida. Oral Roberts is only the second 15 seed team in tournament history to make it to the Sweet 16. Another unbelievable game was 8 seed Loyola Chicago upsetting the number 1 seed Illinois. All of these games took place in the first two rounds alone.

The Sweet 16 matchups are 12 seed Oregon St. vs 8 seed Loyola Chicago, 5 seed Villanova vs 1 seed Baylor, 15 seed Oral Roberts vs 3 seed Arkansas, 11 seed Syracuse vs 2 seed Houston, 5 seed Creighton vs 1 seed Gonzaga, 4 seed Florida St. vs 1 seed Michigan, 11 seed UCLA vs 2 seed Alabama, and 7 seed Oregon vs 6 seed USC. There are definitely going to be some great games during this Sweet 16. This is the first time in tournament history that 4 teams seeded 11th or lower are in the Sweet 16. No one can predict what will happen in the tournament. It is truly March Madness.

Cam Newton Re-Signs with Patriots

In the 2015 NFL season Cam Newton was playing great. He won the NFL Most Valuable Player award (MVP), and NFL Offensive Player of the Year award (OPOTY). The Carolina Panthers had a record of 15-1 in the regular season, and Cam Newton led them to the Super Bowl. But they were defeated by the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl. Since then Newton has not really been the same. He has been an average quarterback since the 2015 NFL season.

In the 2016 and 2017 NFL seasons Cam did not play well. Those were the worst two seasons of his career. In the 2018 NFL season he played alright, but still not great. In the 2019 NFL season Newton got injured, and he only played in two games that season. During the off-season the Carolina Panthers released Newton.

After Cam was released by the Panthers he signed a one year deal with the New England Patriots. Newton did not have a good year during the 2020 NFL season with the Patriots. He only had eight passing touchdowns. He did have twelve rushing touchdowns though. But he also had ten interceptions. Many people did not think that the Patriots would re-sign Newton because of his poor play this past season. Another reason people did not think that New England would re-sign Cam was because he had only signed a one year contract previously, and the Patriots could draft a new quarterback. So it was pretty shocking when the Patriots re-signed Newton to a one year deal worth up to 13.6 million dollars. This was very big news throughout the NFL. I think that most people were surprised by this, I definitely was. It will be interesting to see how Cam Newton plays this upcoming season.

J.J. Watt To Cardinals

After spending his entire career with the Houston Texans (10 seasons), NFL superstar J.J. Watt requested to be released from the team. The Texans agreed and parted ways with him. J.J. Watt is one of the greatest NFL players of all time. There was a lot of talk about which team he would eventually sign with this offseason. A lot of teams showed interest in signing Watt. Some of those teams were the Green Bay Packers, the Pittsburg Steelers, the Cleveland Browns, the Buffalo Bills, and the Tennessee Titans. These five teams were the most likely to sign Watt, and all five of these teams made the playoffs this past season. J.J. could fit in with all of these teams. But the Packers and the Steelers would have been a more personal fit for Watt. Watt was born in Wisconsin, grew up as a Packers fan, and he played for the Wisconsin Badgers. So it would have been really cool to see J.J. play for the Packers. If Watt decided to sign with the Steelers he would be playing alongside both of his brothers, Derek and T.J.. Three brothers together on one team would be pretty special.

But J.J. Watt shocked the sports world by signing with the Arizona Cardinals. He signed a two-year contract worth 28 million dollars, and 23 million of it is guaranteed. The Cardinals were not even a team that was mentioned for signing Watt. It is definitely an interesting choice for Watt though. Arizona’s defense was ranked 13th out of 32 teams this past season, which is not bad. They have a great offense that was ranked 6th in the NFL, and Kyler Murray is a really good young quarterback for them. Also J.J. has now been reunited with star wide receiver and former Texans player DeAndre Hopkins. Arizona had an 8-8 record last season, and I think they will have a better record this upcoming season. I believe that they can make the playoffs this season. J.J. Watt will help improve this team, and it will be fun to watch him play for the Cardinals this year.

Can Nets Win Title This Year?

On July 7th, 2019, the Brooklyn Nets signed Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. On September 30th, 2020, 2x NBA MVP and Hall of Fame player Steve Nash became the Nets new head coach. Then on January 14th, 2021, James Harden was traded to the Nets. These Nets stars have undeniable talent. Kyrie Irving is a 7x NBA All-Star player. Kevin Durant is an 11x NBA All-Star player, NBA MVP in 2014, and 2x NBA Finals MVP (2017 and 2018). James Harden is a 9x NBA All-Star player, NBA MVP in 2018, and finished in second place in MVP votes in 2019. Harden and Durant were reunited after being teammates for four years on the Oklahoma City Thunder. But Brooklyn now has their big three. Creating super teams in the NBA is a very good way to win championships. Many super teams in the past have won NBA titles. When this Nets team was formed some people were wondering if the chemistry between the three superstars would work out. This NBA regular season is just about halfway through, and Brooklyn is playing well. Irving, Durant, and Harden are all great scorers, and the Nets are the best offensive team in the league. But they are one of the worst defensive teams in the league. They still have half of the regular season remaining to improve on their defense though. Despite Brooklyn’s poor defense, this extremely talented team should win the NBA championship. They have three of the best players in the league on one team. With this star-studded team the time to win is now for the Nets. Personally I do think that the Nets can win the title this year. If this big three stays together, the Brooklyn Nets could become the next NBA dynasty.

Carson Wentz to Colts

In the 2017 NFL season Carson Wentz was playing great with the Philadelphia Eagles. As a starter the Eagles went 11-2 that year. Wentz had 33 passing touchdowns, and was selected to the Pro Bowl. He also finished in third place in the NFL MVP voting. Even though Wentz got injured and did not get a chance to play in the playoffs in the 2017 season, the Eagles won their first Super Bowl. The Eagles future looked very promising. Wentz was the future for this team as their next franchise quarterback. But the 2020 season was a disaster for the Eagles and Wentz. Wentz was benched after going 3-8-1. His 15 interceptions led the league. This was really Carson’s only bad season, and the Eagles were already looking towards other options. They turned to Jalen Hurts, who is a talented young quarterback. It did not seem like Wentz was happy with being a backup. So the Eagles traded him to the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts needed a new quarterback because Philip Rivers had just retired. Indianapolis gave the Eagles two draft picks to acquire Wentz. So the Colts did not lose much at all to get Carson. This will be a fresh start for Wentz. He now has the chance to prove that he can be the Colts next franchise quarterback. I think that Indianapolis made a wise decision to trade for Carson. Last season the Colts went 11-5 with Philip Rivers as their starting quarterback. They have a really good offensive line, and they have one of the best defenses in the league. I think that Indianapolis will make the playoffs this upcoming season, and Carson Wentz will play well. As for Philadelphia I think that they could have given Wentz another chance. But Jalen Hurts looked good last season, and he could be the next Eagles franchise quarterback. Only time will tell.