Brian's World of Sports

NFL Free Agency Recap

The NFL otherwise known as the (National Football League) began their free agency period Monday March 16th. The new NFL season began Wednesday March 18th where all deals can become official. So far, the Miami Dolphins have spent the most money out of every team and acquired a top five free agent in cornerback Byron Jones. However, the most questionable move they made was signing former first round draft bust Ereck Flowers and giving him ten million dollars a year. He has bounced around three teams and is struggling on the offensive line.

As a devoted Giants fan I am happy with the signings they have made so far. They have signed James Bradberry, Blake Martinez, and a few other players. The Giants are slowly but surely making the right steps to continue their rebuild as James Bradberry is a great cornerback and Blake Martinez is a stud tackler at the linebacker position. My only worries about Blake Martinez is he is not the best in coverage and his signing along with fellow linebacker and teammate Kyler Fackrell may stop the Giants from drafting versatile playmaking linebacker/safety Isaiah Simmons. The Giants may draft an offensive lineman which is also a major need for the Giants and can give franchise quarterback Daniel Jones and franchise running back Saquon Barkley some much needed protection but I feel like the Giants cannot miss on Simmons talents.

The most surprising move of the offseason so far was debatably Tom Brady leaving the New England Patriots after twenty seasons and signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Brady has spent his entire career with the Patriots. He shocked the world when he announced he was leaving the Patriots to go to the Buccaneers.

“2017 Miami Dolphins Creative” by Brandon Moore, Surf Melendez, Surf Melendez is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

“NY Giants 2015 Game Day Graphics” by Nick Morgan is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

“Patriots Training Camp 2017” by eltiempo10 is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Spring Training 2020

“MLB Hats Done Rignt (Home)” by LandRover164 is licensed under CC BY 2.0

“Jordy Mercer” by Terry Foote is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

“2013 MLB Spring Training Identity” by Nick Black is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

A few weeks ago, Spring Training started for the MLB (Major League Baseball). This is the beginning of the season as it is similar to preseason in football, basketball, and hockey. Teams either play in Florida or Arizona from February to March to get ready for the season. Teams play their starting players as well as minor league players hoping to make it to the majors. The biggest storyline this year is what will happen to the players after the Houston Astros scandal.

Jason Zucker Trade

On February 10th, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild made a trade. The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired 28-year old left winger Jason Zucker. The Minnesota Wild acquired center Alex Galchenyuk, defensive prospect Calen Addison and a 2020 First Round pick. This trade makes sense for both teams as the Penguins get a former 30 goal scorer who is a fast player with a good shot in Zucker, and the Wild get young pieces to help their rebuild. The Penguins pushed hard for this deal as they wanted a great player that can help the Penguins contend for another Stanley Cup run.

*“March of the Pittsburgh Penguins” by kylewagaman is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0*

“Partially Resurfaced” *by NVJ is licensed under* CC BY-NC 2.0

“NHL Draft” *by JohnathanLobel is licensed under* CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

As a Penguins fan, I am happy with the type of player that we got. Zucker already has two goals and two assists with the team. However, I felt we gave up too much for him and they might be in trouble for the future. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin won’t be playing forever and when they retire the penguins dominance will be over. The Penguins gave up a first round pick which I was fine with. However, to put this into prospective the Penguins have only owned one of their first round picks in the last twelve years so it his hard to develop good prospects and grow the future. However, what I was a little upset about was trading Calen Addison. He is an 18 year-old defenseman that was supposed to be a top-4 defenseman next year. The Penguins prospect system was already not that good to begin with and now it got even worse.

Kobe Bryant

Unfortunately, on Sunday January 26th Kobe Bryant along with his daughter Gianna and seven other people died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Kobe Bryant is a 5X NBA Champion. The news was very shocking as just 24 hours before his passing LeBron James passed Kobe on the all-time scoring list and Kobe tweeted “Continuing to move the game forward @KingJames. Much respect my brother”. Other victims of the crash were “girls’ basketball coach Christina Mauser, 38; mom Sarah Chester, 45, and her 13-year-old daughter, Payton Chester; and college baseball coach John Altobelli, 56, his wife, Keri Altobelli, 46, and their 14-year-old daughter Alyssa Altobelli,” (Brown). All of these victims were heading to a travel basketball game that morning.

The flight was in and conditions as there was heavy fog in the area. “The chopper took off from John Wayne Airport in Orange County midmorning and encountered heavy fog en route to Camarillo Airport. The conditions were bad enough that the LAPD’s Air Support Division grounded its helicopters and didn’t fly until later in the afternoon, department spokesman Josh Rubenstein said,” (Winton). Some say that the helicopter should haver taken off due to the heave fog and blame the pilot. However, Kawhi Leonard stated that the pilot Ara Zobayan is “one of the best”.

Many players and people took the news to heart and were devastated. Kobe Bryant’s numbers 8 and 24 were both retired by the Los Angeles Lakers after he retired in 2017. However, after the passing Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban retired 24 out of respect. Many players across the league took 24 and 8 second violations during games. Current players that wore 24 changed their number out of respect to honor Kobe and his legacy. Even the National Hockey League honored Kobe Bryant as well as recently in the Super Bowl with video tributes. The NBA (National Basketball Association) recently made changes to their upcoming all-star game to honor Kobe and Gianna with one team wearing 24 (Kobe’s number) and 2 (Gianna’s number) as well as, many changes to the game. Kobe Bryant was an icon and millions across the world were devastated when the news broke out.

“kobe-jersey-retirement-wallpaper-4k” *by beast120815 is licensed under* CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

“Kobe Bryant – Official Jersey Retirement Artwork” *by Tyson Beck is licensed under* CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Introduction to My Site

This blog is going to be an encyclopedia to sports. At a young age, my parents got me into sports and I fell in love with sports. As a kid, I watched football, basketball, baseball, and hockey. However, I played football, basketball, and soccer. In high school I played basketball and threw javelin for Track & Field. My favorite sports teams are the New York Yankees, New York Giants, New York Knicks, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

This blog is going to look at what is going on in the world of sports. It will feature professional baseball, football, basketball, hockey, and WWE. This blog will cover any breaking news, transactions, and what-if scenarios. I grew up around sports and got involved at a young age. This blog is set to inform people who do not know much about sports or are here for an interested read!