Bobby Hurley: The Under-appreciated

Ok good people, this will be short and sweet. The NCAA Tournament is the most exciting time of the Sports Year to me. Viewers get the opportunity to see countless kids living their dream of playing on the biggest stage in College Basketball. The smaller schools win their Conference tournaments and join the "Big Boys" in the"Big Dance". Each year we see buzzer beaters, upsets and great competitive spirit. I love March Madness and look forward to one day watching a Mid-Major School cut the nets in jubilation. Some fans believe this will never happen but UMBC defeated #1 Virginia this year making history. A 16th seed defeated the Top seed in the entire tournament. We remember Butler being one shot away from defeating Duke a few years ago. We've seen runs over the years by Davidson, VCU, West Virginia and a host of impressive programs. It's going to happen one day people! There will come a time when the match-up (brackets/seed) is going to fall in place for a Mid-Major School to defeat one of the Power Conference teams. We look at Loyola Chicago advancing to the Final Four with no fear. They have a legit chance of winning the championship this year. They are a prime example of what will happen in the future. You see, Mid-Major schools aren't filled with High School All American, AAU Stars and Youtube sensations. These schools house hard working 3 Star Talent in some respects. I'm not saying they aren't talented. I'm saying they generally stay in school as a unit for 3-4 years. They are often great teams from a fundamental perspective in comparison to a team like Kentucky this year. At the end of the day, remember you heard me say it on Da Dome. I believe a Mid-Major will win the NCAA Tournament within the next 5 years. Peace - Tony Hanes, Da Dome

Today is February 11, 2018 & I just finished watching the CAVS destroy Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics. On my timeline (Facebook and Twitter), I noticed a lot o negative comments in regard to LeBron James that I fail to understand. What more do we want from Lebron James? What can he do to get the love that Michael Jordan or even Magic Johnson receive? On the basketball court LeBron is one of the Top 5 Players in NBA History and I'm not here to debate that. If you don't have James in your Top 10, we can't even discuss the NBA because your opinion is corny, but I digress. You can review his career accomplishments below at your leisure. There is a weird and strange "HATE" for a man that has represented the NBA, his family and his community for the past 15 years. What else do you want from LeBron James? Is LeBron James perfect? Of course not and I have yet to see a perfect human being. We are all flawed and trapped in our own personalities. Do some players enjoy playing with James? The answer to this question is YES, just as some guys would rather play elsewhere, ask Kyrie Irving. Fans love talking about Jordan and players from previous generations. Jordan would verbally attack players as well as physically attack them. Go ask current Golden State Coach Steve Kerr about geting punched in the face by Jordan. Ask Horace Grant about his well documented opinions on Jordan. What about Kobe's attitude towards teammates in practice? What about my favorite Player Isaiah Thomas fighting teammates on the Detroit Pistons teams? What about Allen Iverson's behavior? You see, some of the greatest players ever had personality issues. Is LeBron James any different than the players I listed above? You see, LeBron James has been in the NBA since he was a teen and now he is 33 years old. The dude literally grew up as a professional ball players. His life has been for media consumption before he could buy a beer. You understand what I'm saying? This guy was drafted by a Team less than 45 miles from where he was raised. This means that every person who ever spoke to him feel as though he owes them something. I will not speak on various situations with his Mother and no Father around. Dude was still able to have a successful Wife and Kids, with no crazy drama from terrible decisions. With that being said, what does he do? He provides financial assistance to his old community, build a business with childhood friends, put young people in college, assist adults with jobs and community programs, speak on Racial/Social issues unlike most of your favorite players and carried the NBA for years. What else do you want from LeBron James? What has he done that other great players haven't done? Great players want to win at all cost and at times, their decisions will not be popular. - Peace Tony Hanes, Da Dome The Career of LeBron James 3× NBA champion ( 2012 , 2013 , 2016 ) 3× NBA Finals MVP ( 2012 , 2013 , 2016 ) 4× NBA Most Valuable Player ( 2009 , 2010 , 2012 , 2013 ) 14× NBA All-Star ( 2005 – 2018 ) 2× NBA All-Star Game MVP ( 2006 , 2008 ) 11× All-NBA First Team ( 2006 , 2008 – 2017 ) 2× All-NBA Second Team ( 2005 , 2007 ) 5× NBA All-Defensive First Team ( 2009 – 2013 ) NBA All-Defensive Second Team ( 2014 ) NBA Rookie of the Year ( 2004 ) NBA scoring champion ( 2008 ) J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award ( 2017 ) 2× AP Athlete of the Year (2013, 2016) 2× Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year (2012, 2016) USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (2012) 2× Mr. Basketball USA (2002, 2003) Naismith Prep Player of the Year (2003) McDonald's All-American Game MVP (2003) 3× Ohio Mr. Basketball (2001–2003) Stats at NBA.com

In the history of Boxing, there have been greats who specialized in knocking opponents out and greats who specialized in the "Sweet Science" of the Sport. Over the past hundred years, fans witnessed Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, and Mike Tyson knock boxers out with relative ease. We also saw what George Foreman did to elite fighters such as Ken Norton and Joe Frazier. What about Roberto Duran or Roy Jones, who once knocked a World Champion out with the punch coming from behind his back. You see, the Gladiators generally go for the kill. An era later, Floyd Mayweather began his reign following Jones, Whitaker and Trinidad. During the "Money Mayweather" era some fans fell into the rhetoric often expressed by Legendary Commentator Larry Merchant, and later Fox Sports Analyst Skip Bayless, both citing that Mayweather couldn't "HIT". They would often say his fights were boring because he never took an aggressive approach to his matches. I often thought this was hilarious because FMJ has 27 knockout. He has knocked out 27 professional boxers in his career, several of them were World Champions. People who have followed his career know that he injured his hand early on and struggled with pain for years to come. Even with this reality, he managed to end his career with 50 wins. I find this impressive for a dude that couldn't hit. A funny thing when I debate boxing with casual fans is the fact that none of them can name a time when a boxer "RAN" through Floyd punches. If a person can't hit, you will risk getting close to land hard punches. Remember what Canelo Avarez did to Amir Khan? He walked through his punches and destroyed him. Remember what happened in the Mayweather fight? Floyd systematically schooled Alvarez and gave him solid blows all night. Each time Canelo got close, sharp jabs, body blows and straight rights kept him retreating. The same fate manifested in the Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, De La Hoya, Zab Judah, and Manny Pacquiao fights. I thought Floyd Mayweather couldn't hit though. I remember Shane Mosley speaking on Floyd's deceptive power of Fox Sports Undisputed. He informed Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless that Floyd's power was just like Canelo Alvarez power. You see, power comes from accuracy and precision as well. Look at the systematic breakdown of Ricky Hatton, Diego Corralles, Phillip N'dou, and Sharmba Mitchell. To be honest, the only time a fighter tried to walk through Floyd's punches is when he moved up to face light weight champion Jose' Louis Castillo who came into the fight over 10 pounds the limit. This was the toughest fight in Floyd's career up to that particular point. Outside of the Castillo 1 fight, no boxer in 50 professional bouts walked through the punches of the man with the so called "Pillow Hands". If you watch fights in the intense fashion that I do, you will see the power of clean punches. At the end of the day, boxing fans understand my stance. PS: You can look at the picture I used for this short blog. If you are a casual fan, you wouldn't recognize the clean (hard) punches Floyd hit Manny with. You were probably "Jedi Mind Tricked" into thinking he ran all fight. He was clean and showed underrated power his entire career...PLEASE watch the video below as well..... Peace : Tony Hanes