therooksrants-blog

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The King Has Returned

Last night was the opening game of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the NY Rangers. Bell Center, or the Centre Bell if you are from America's hat, has been a place where the Blueshirts struggled especially Henrik. However, last night the King put down all the talks about his old age and diminished performance. Lundqvist had 31 saves and a shut out against the Habs. The Rangers offense were getting some good looks and moving the puck extremely well in my opinion. I would have liked to have seen them put one more past Price, but he's an unreal goalie. Tanner Glass with the GWG was certainly a surprise. Props to AV for going with him. I've always been a fan of Glass. The Rangers need him in there to hit back and stand up for the team by getting into some fights. He played well defensively and offensively showing he's more than just a bruiser. In order for the Rangers to win this series, they need Henrik to stay hot. Make the whole NHL world know the King without a throne is back. He is coming for that cup, and he will make sure the NY Rangers will be a very tough out. The doubters can go away because the King is back. Also, another key in Game 2 will be if the Rangers offense could keep the pressure on the Habs defense, and capitalize on their chances. They are gonna need more than just one goal against Price in order to win this series. #LGR

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Block Party Friday's

Little intro here befor the post. This is our weekly guest ranter spot. He’s mainly here to talk NBA but during the offseason maybe he’ll touch on other topics. So here is introducing C-Block to Rook’s Rants: The NBA draft is behind us and JR smith has still not found his shirt. Last night the NBA teams drafted the top players internationally and collegiately to their teams to hopefully shape the future of the league. There were some trades, surprises, and disappointments as there is every year. Just like every draft there will be some steals and busts but at this point every team has optimism. Let’s dive into the top 3 picks and then the rest of the night… Ben Simmons was the first pick to the Sixers. This was the least surprising pick of the night since everyone knew he would be the first pick for about 6 months now. The Sixers got an absolute monster, he has all the tools to become a multiyear All Star and bring back stardom to Philly something they haven’t had since AI. The Sixers now must make some other moves. Their top 5 players are all over 6 foot 10 in Noel, Okafor, Simmons, Embiid, and Saric. You can thank Sam Hinkie for that. The sixers attempted to trade for the number three pick from the Celtics to draft Kris Dunn but that did not happen so the rest of the draft they decided to go international. Brandon Ingram then got selected by the Lakers which again was not a surprise at all considering Ingram is 6’9 with a 7’3 wingspan and a knockdown shooter. Luke Walton will love Ingram as he brings the Warriors style of basketball over to the Staples Center for Jack to enjoy. The only issue with Ingram is that he looks like Christian Bale in “The Machinist” he needs to put on weight and muscle and fast. The core nucleus of Ingram, Russell, and Randle will be a good start to rebuilding this team in the post Kobe era. The third pick is when the draft really began with the Celtics and one of their endless amounts of picks that they had. All day the phones were ringing for Danny Ainge and it seemed inevitable that they would either pick Kris Dunn and keep him or trade him to either Philly for Noel and a bundle of picks or Chicago for Jimmy Butler. The big moment came, Adam Silver looking like a penis, as he always does, came walking up to the podium to endless amounts of boos and announced with the Third Pick the Boston Celtics select Jaylen Brown. WHATT? This pick made absolutely no sense whatsoever as did the rest of the draft by the Celtics. They wasted a perfect opportunity to take the most talked about player in the draft in Dunn and either trade Marcus Smart or Avery Bradley and have Dunn and Isiah Thomas be the backcourt or dangle Dunn out as trade bait and see who bites first like the alligator in Disney. The rest of the draft they grabbed some stash International players until the second round drafting Jackson from Notre Dame in a last ditch effort to save the night. Bill Simmons and Affleck must be using their tears as lubricant as they whack off to Big Papi. The rest of the draft was an interesting dynamic of trades, surprise picks, and Demarcus Cousins trolling his team on Twitter as he does every year. The most surprising trade of the night without a doubt was the Orlando and OKC deal that sent Serge Ibaka to Orlando in exchange for Oladipo, Ilyasova, and the rights to the 11th pick Sabas’s son, Domantas Sabonis. I can honestly say I have no idea what Orlando is doing here. The Magic are a young team that decided to give away its best player Oladipo and a young big man for Ibaka who this year decided to fall in love with the three point shot and get away from his best attribute, defense. The Thunder are making it hard for Durant to leave this offseason with a team with Westbrook, Oladipo, Durant, and Adams and they are able to now decide to match Waiters offers this offseason. Phoenix made a couple trades and was able to grab Bender and Chriss which should spark their rebuild going forward. Bender is a huge unknown and the Suns either have the next Porzingod or Darko…flip a coin. ​The rest of the draft went on pretty routinely with Woj announcing every pick on twitter WAY before Adam Silver got to the podium. Woj is the silent assassin nothing is official until it comes from him and he just owned the draft as always. It’s time to hand out some awards from draft night: • Best Pick: Minnesota Timberwolves-Kriss Dunn (Kid is going to be a stud) • Worst Pick: Milwaukee Bucks: Thon Maker (He may be 100 years old no one knows) • Worst Night: Deyonta Davis (Got invited to the green room and didn’t get picked until second round…just brutal) • Best Night: Demarcus Cousins (Twetted out “Lord Give me Strength” as the Kings were making selections. He is just the best. Doesn’t give two shits and fucks with Vlade all the time. I love it) • Best Dressed: None..fuck these guys they all look like assholes with short pants and dumb ass jackets with patches inside • Most Annoying: 5 minutes for each pick in the first round, so annoying especially the first two picks. They already knew who they were taking just say it. Now a quick discussion on the local teams, Knicks and Nets. After winning a combined 53 games which was 20 less than the Warriors won by themselves you would think this would be a big night for NY as both teams try to reshape their teams for the future with high draft picks….Nope. Nets don’t ever have a good pick again because they traded it to the Celtics for KG and Pierce’s corpses and the Knicks are just assholes. The Nets did make a couple of trades and got the 20th pick for Thad Young, where they took a guy who had the same foot surgery as Lopez, as well as got the local Seton Hall prospect Isiah Whitehead late in second round. The Knicks on the other hand for the last two months have been talking about buying a pick and instead they announced during the draft that D-Rose will speak Friday night at MSG and decided to sign an undrafted WHITE guy out of Wichita State, Ron Baker. This should end well. Both Knicks and Nets have a lot of money in the offseason to entice players to come and have a lot of work to do…cough Durant. ​ All and all draft sucked as always. The hype about all the big time trades that were going to happen didn’t and all we got was Jalen Rose yelling at the TV for 4 hours. Let’s go Knicks, Thanks Rooks Rants for the platform. I’m sure I will be posting highly optimistic Knicks posts in the near future about how a lineup of KP, Melo, and Drose has a chance to win the championship. Only to then three months later, talk about how I am considering killing myself because I hate all of them. Mic drop. I’m out. -C-Block

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President Smith? I spoke about having a bad day earlier this morning but let’s get to someone who is probably having the best week ever. JR Smith. He won an NBA championship Sunday night. Before returning to Cleveland, he made a pit stop for some champagne and night clubs in Las Vegas. Not going to lie, I would probably do the same. At the night club, he poured champagne on chics and took his shirt off which must have been his only one because he hasn’t been seen with one since. He held a kid up at the Championship parade like he was holding Simba. Then today, golfing without a shirt. Incredible week! I’m jealous because he was once a Knick and now he’s a champion, and all that partying must be the life. During this awesome week, JR held up a sign saying to vote for him over Trump and Hilary. You know what, I’m kind of agreeing with the sign. I now take an in-depth analysis on why JR Smith may be …no he is better presidential candidate than both Trump and Hilary. Man of the People JR Smith is living out every guys fantasy right now. Barely contribute to a team winning a championship and then getting to reap all the rewards that come with being an NBA champion. He’s the every man. Trump is rich, Hilary is rich, I can’t relate to them. But JR, I can relate to. I would pop bottles of champagne and dump them on people at a club if I won a championship. Also, this shows his willingness to share and give to the less fortunate. I’m sure he was trying to give those girls some champagne not get their clothes all wet. Another point, he lifted up a child at a parade. I believe that child had crutches to help him walk. He’s like the Pope right now. Lifting up the sick and giving them the recognition they deserve. That moment wasn’t about JR but about the young boy with crutches. He’s a god damn humanitarian. Foreign Policy Yeah, that’s right. Foreign Policy. JR Smith played basketball in China for like a year and half. He has a better relationship with China than Hilary and Trump could ever have. He can open up borders and improve relations between the US and China like no one ever could. I bet you he would even appoint Stephon Marbury as the US Ambassador to China. Another great diplomat to the Chinese people. Marbury has a biopic coming out in China. That man is beloved in China. I don’t even know if JR and Marbury are friends, but when the President comes calling you don’t say no. I bet Marbury has been waiting 8 years from the call from Obama on becoming an ambassador. With President Smith running the show, he could improve US and Chinese relations to places we have never seen before. Resiliency JR is resilient. He knows he’s a shooter. He’s so committed to being known as shooter he does not give a shit about how many shots he misses. 2 for 32 from the floor? No problem, next time I’ll go out and shoot more. His resiliency to not give up is what the American spirit is all about. Commitment JR is committed to not wearing a shirt. He may not wear another shirt until he has to don a basketball jersey again. He is so committed to this cause that any cause you put in front of President Smith will be tackled. He is so committed to his cause that signs that say no shoes, no shirt, no service, doesnt scare him away! He’s getting that service, shirt or not! Between, his resiliency and his commitment to get the job done, Americans will have a president that does not go back on their promises. Maybe… Appeals to the Blue Collar Worker American is built on the back bone of our blue collar workers. The average joe, Joe the Plumber, Sloppy Joe, and Joe Camel are everything that makes America great. You may ask, how does a millionaire basketball player appeal to the average blue collar worker? Easy. JR Smith is not afraid to get down and dirty. He says it all the time, “You tryna lay the pipe?” He offers his assistance to anyone who has plumbing problems. His hard work in laying down the pipe appeals to a blue collar worker. He knows what it’s like to get your hands dirty, lay pipes, and don’t stop until the job is completely finished. Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton are no match to a President JR Smith. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for America in 2024. He’s only 30 so he can’t run until he’s 35, so he won’t be ready until 2024. Consider yourself lucky Trump and Hilary. It’s JR’s world and we are all living in it. All Hail The Chief!

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2016 NBA Draft Preview Tonight the NBA draft is open! I guess that’s the terminology. I always hear Goodell yell that out when the NFL draft starts. Anyway, three main takeaways from the NBA draft tonight. 1. Ben Simmons to the Sixers. It’s already done. Ben knows, Sixers know, and the whole world knows. If you didn’t, then get out from under the rock you are living. 2. Lakers are intending to take Brandon Ingram at the #2 spot. The product from Duke is long and is a great shooter. He’ll definitely be a impact player next season. Should fit nicely with D’Angelo Russel, until Russel records him doing something stupid on his phone, and with Julius Randle. 3. I don’t care about the rest of the draft because the NY Knicks do not get a draft pick. We got Rose and that’s all that matters right now. It’s like we drafted Derrick Rose. I’ll take it. Just gotta hope his knees hold up. Last point, not a main takeaway but an interesting storyline is seeing where the Seton Hall product Isaiah Whitehead ends up. I would love for him to be a Knick but not sure if Phil could make it happen. He’s a Brooklyn born guy. I’ve read that he may end up in Brooklyn with the Nets, which would suck for him. That’s it! That’s all I got about the NBA draft preview. Go Knicks! Just kidding they suck. Here’s to hoping an NBA prospect goes the way of Laremy Tunsil and tweets out himself smoking pot 10 minutes before the draft. Enjoy the draft tonight and come back for an NBA draft review.

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USA! USA! USA!

Congrats to Patrick Kane on becoming the first born and raised American to become the NHL’s MVP. After a season where he scored 106 points, 46 goals, and had points in 78% of his 82 games this year. Incredible numbers from an American.

This blog isn’t about him though, it’s about none other than the US of A. A night after getting our necks stomped on by Argentina derailing the US dreams of dominating soccer, we get the NHL MVP. In the same year that no Canadian hockey team made the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s looks like the USA is finally taking over hockey. (Nevermind the fact that most of the players in the NHL aren’t American, but they represent American Cities, so therefore, US is dominating hockey.)

We all know the USA is the unanimous MVP of the world when it comes to countries. I mean you name another country that won Back to Back World Wars. There isn’t one. It’s only the United States of America!

Winning the NHL MVP just solidifies the US dominance in another sport. Soccer look out because we are coming for you. Also, you can’t be more American than Patrick Kane and his mullet coming from Buffalo, NY. You just can’t.

God Bless America! Thanks for the win Patrick.

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Staten Island Yankees Rebranding

Starting next year the Staten Island Yankees will be no more. Instead, they are giving the fans a chance to decide the name for Staten Island’s minor league baseball team. I’ve already submitted my suggestions but figured I would share here as well. By the way, good call by the SI Yankees to drop the Yankees right now because the professionals stink. Gotta break away now when the Yankees aren’t as hot as they were in 1999 when the SI Yankees first were established.

First things first, on the line in this competition is season tickets to the SI Yankees and throwing out the first pitch on their home opener. Thats a prize that I am completely in for. Throwing out the first pitch would be an amazing experience even if it is just for a Single A summer only minor league baseball team. Anyway, to the new SI Yankees names because these are absolutely shoe ins.

I’ll give my more serious approach to the rename. My first suggestion is the Stapletons. Many people don’t know this but Staten Island was actually home to a NFL team in late 1920s and early 1930s. The team’s name was the Stapletons. The stadium was in the Stapleton area of Staten Island. Stapleton is not too far from the current home of the SI Yanks and giving a throwback to an old football team name would be a nice historical touch.

Now to my 100% shoe in pick. The Richmond County Groundhogs. Also, not opposed to the SI Groundhogs, but since the ball park is called Richmond County Ballpark might as well rebrand the Staten Island part of team name as well. Staten Island is home to Staten Island Chuck, a groundhog that lives in the SI Zoo. Many people may forget this but he was tragically murdered by Mayor Bill DeBlasio one Groundhog’s Day after the mayor dropped him. I believe it was in retaliation of Chuck biting the mayor the previous year. There was actually a scandal that SI Chuck was replaced without anyone knowing he died. Anyway, the perfect way to remember this forgotten groundhog is to rename the SI Yankees to the Richmond County Groundhogs. Get a groundhog mascot named Chuck, or Chuckie if the SI Zoo won’t let the team take Chuck the groundhogs name because of trademark or copyright. Put a hat on him, with some sunglasses. Bam! You even got a mascot idea there too.

So there you have my two suggestions for the new name of the Staten Island Yankees. One to remember a former NFL team and another to remember a murdered groundhog. Let’s go Groundhogs!!!

Submit your team name here:

https://secure.milb.com/tickets/form.jsp?formid=team_name_submission&formcode=form&sid=t586&section=team3

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And you thought your day was bad? This will be a feature on my blog every now and then depending on how bad an athletes day was. It will have to be a very bad day, for example today’s blog. Yesterday, you may have had a tough day at work. You may have gotten into a dumb fight with your significant other. Your team may have traded away your favorite player with a draft pick to the Knicks. But no matter what, just remember nothing could be as bad as Michael Taylor of the Washington Nationals day. Michael Taylor went 0-5 at the plate with 5 strikeouts! Five! That’s worse than the golden sombrero. You would think that would be enough for a bad day. Well, you are incorrect. With a one run lead in the top of the ninth against the Dodgers. Puig hit a harmless single to center field. It would have put runners on first and second with one out. However, Michael Taylor let that ground ball past him which allowed not only the tying run to score but for Puig to round all the bases and score! So, don’t be selfish and say you had the worst day ever, because you would be incorrect. Michael Taylor’s day was way worse.

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SELL! SELL! SELL! The New York Yankees should be sellers for this upcoming trade deadline. Every time Beltran hits a home run, I’m praying the next day he isn’t on the roster and the Yankees traded him for some picks or young talent. The Yankees have had some nice things go there way this year. We have a solid double play combo with Sir Didi and Starlin Castro up the middle. Our bullpen is great, but I’ll get to that in a second. Our pitching, not lately, has been over performing. CC has found his way and has been pretty solid this season. Even the addition of Refsnyder to the roster has been nice. Despite those positives, it’s safe the say the Yankees are not a playoff team. At 35-36, one game under .500 and 6 games back, I do not see this Yankee team making the postseason. I think it’s time for the Yankees to do what should have been done a few years ago, and that is rebuild. So far the Yankees have solid players in the minors that eventually will contribute and make the Yankees great again. However, we are still a few years away from that. Which is fine, every team goes through its low points. The future looks bright with guys like Bird, Sanchez, and Judge on the horizon. We need to add to this bright future. Yankees should trade Beltran to a contending team that is going to need a clutch switch hitter on their bench or in the lineup. Beltran lives for October, you just need to get him there. The Yankees have 3 very talented arms in that bullpen. All 3 could close if needed. My suggestion would be to trade Chapman and Betances to teams needing a solid reliever or a closer to help cap off their roster for a World Series run. The Yankees need to keep Miller. I think he’s the best of the three and he’s a great team guy. He puts the team before himself and could eventually become a great leader in the clubhouse with an attitude like that. With some contracts expiring this off season, and A-Rod gone in two years, we can see the Yankees great again in 2018. I pray I’m wrong as a Yankees fan but a playoff contending team in 2018 is something that I can buy.

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LeBron is Making Me Hate Him Less Earlier today in Cleveland, Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrated the first championship in Cleveland since the 1964 NFL Champion Cleveland Browns. (Very weird to use champion and Browns in the same sentence.) I would like to congrats, LeBron. Not for bringing a championship to Cleveland, even though that is impressive, but for making me hate him less. Which is another impressive feat, because I have been a big LeBron hater. I have hated him since he did that stupid decision on ESPN. I have a sliding scale for LeBron hate. The highest level or “Threat Level Midnight” is “Despise.” After the decision special that was broadcasted live on television and radio, the scale was at “Threat Level Midnight.” When he said “Not 1! Not 2! Not 3! Not 4! Not 5!” It was at Despise. Then when he lost in the finals to the Mavs, I moved it to the next lower level “Hate.” It only descreased because how happy I was that he lost after assembling a super team. Even when he beat the Thunder, I was still at “Hate.” However, throughout a season it drops between these two levels. Whenever he flops and complains about a call, it raises to despise. But currently in my sliding scale of LeBron hate, I am at the third level, “Mild Dislike.” The reason I am at this third level is because throughout my years of hatred, I’ve never doubted him being perhaps one of, if not the greatest NBA player in the history of the league. I just never understood why a guy his size ever tries to flop and cry about calls. He is a tank. The fact that he needs to flop and gets calls is outrageous to me. A guy that big doesn’t fall over from a foul from a skinny guy like Steph Curry. It just doesn’t happen. After the finals performance he gave this year, I have to kind of respect him. He carried his team and gave his role players a chance to help him bring this championship to Cleveland and his hometown. Granted he didn’t hit the game winning shot but he gave Kyrie the chance to hit it. The block on Igudola was probably the most atlethic thing I’ve seen on a basketball court. Dropping 40 points in an elimination game. Then having a triple double in a game 7 makes him an absolute beast. His performance in this finals can rival any other finals performances by any of the NBA greats. So congrats to LeBron and the Cavs on not giving up and winning the championship. Maybe one day I can reach the lowest level of “Like” on my LeBron James sliding scale of hate. Unless, he pulls another decision this summer and makes it reach “Threat Level Midnight” again. Knowing LeBron, leaving Cleveland to join another team is always a very real option.

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Rose to the Knicks The New York Knicks have finally made a move that makes sense under Phil Jackson. Actually, correct that maybe in the last decade. The Knicks traded for Derrick Rose today, and have become a much better team than they were last season already. This trade brings the Knicks a true point guard something they have severely been missing in recent years. We do lose Robin Lopez and Jerian Grant. I liked Grant when he was drafted, but the NY Knicks and Kurt Rambis for some reason barely gave him a chance last year. Lopez was a good defensive presence on the court. However, the Knicks get rid of that fossil Jose Calderon. Most importantly this trade frees up 30 million dollars in cap space to go out and get a free agent to help improve this team. The next move for the Knicks is to bring in a center. Not only does this free up cap space but the first time that I can remember the NY Knicks are actually getting a draft pick. Normally, we are the ones giving up the draft picks. The Knicks get a 2nd round pick in the 2017 Draft. Now to talk about D-Rose. I know what you are thinking. Can he stay healthy? The answer is most likely no. I wouldn’t be surprised if he injured himself standing up from his chair at his introduction press conference. The good news is his contract is expiring. If he does get hurt this season, then at least his contract is off the books next year. This was definitely worth the shot for the Knicks to take to make the team somewhat a contender. Will Rose return to his 2011 MVP form? Most likely not, but the player the Knicks may get in Rose is infinitely better than what has been playing point guard for the Knickerbockers the last few years. Let’s hope this signing returns Knicks playoff basketball to the Mecca of basketball.

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Welcome to Rook's Rants

Welcome to Rook’s Rants. This is a blog I started because I enjoy talking sports. Starting with my love for baseball and the New York Yankees. Despite how much they stink this year. I like to focus all the major sports and hopefully posting as much as I possible can. Occasionally, I’ll get into current events and maybe even touch upon politics. But mostly to make fun of the candidates the two party system has to offer. Stay tuned and I look forward to sharing my thoughts on the sports world with you. -The Rook