By Austin Bjornholt [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), from Wikimedia CommonsWhen the Chicago Bulls announced that Cristiano Felício and David Nwaba would start in place of Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday, it was not so that they would win more games. It was exactly the opposite. In the NBA, every bad team tanks. Tanking is losing games intentionally so that you get a higher draft pick. When you get a better draft pick, you get a better player. When you get a better player, you have a better team. When you have a better team, you win a championship. When you win a championship, more fans come. When more fans come, the owner gets more money. Basically, tanking is for billionaire owners to get even richer. Tanking is supposed to be illegal, but the NBA doesn’t enforce the rule. During prohibition, law enforcement knew that speakeasies existed and didn’t do anything. When Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said that his team should lose games, Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, fined him $600,000. That may seem like a lot, but Cuban has a projected net worth of $3.7 billion. If you want to know why the NBA does not punish teams for breaking the no-tanking rule, you must know why the rule was created. In other leagues, like the NFL, there are powerhouses (like the Eagles) and teams like the Browns (0-16 last season). If the Browns play the Eagles, it will most likely not be competitive. The reason that the NBA established the no-tanking rule is that they hope that more fans come to games, thinking it will be too über-competitive. Again, when more fans come, the owner gets more money.
Sports
The NBA Playoffs
The Golden State Warriors, photo by Keith Allison via Creative Commons In most sports, including the NBA, there is a playoff bracket that the the champion has to complete to win the title. In the NFL, you cannot lose a single game in order to win the Super Bowl. For the NBA, it is a 7 game series format. Team A (the one with the best record) plays at home for the first two games. Then Team B gets two games at home. Then after that, the games alternate. Whichever team wins 4 games first wins the series. While this has been the system for very long time, the NBA is thinking about changing its format to having a play-in bracket or picking the top 16 teams from either conference instead of 8 teams from each conference. Around three years ago, the Golden State Warriors established themselves as the NBA’s powerhouse. They won 2 out of 3 championships and the one that they lost was a fluke. This playoffs could go their way, or someone else could claim the NBA throne. The Houston Rockets are currently in front of the Warriors in standings, causing many to think that the Warriors’ brief dynasty in which they set the NBA record for the best single-season record is over. The East race is as close as the West race, if not closer. The current Eastern Conference standings. As you can see, there is only a 10 game difference between the 3 seed and the 9 seed which is quite unusual. The NBA playoffs are very exciting and very fun to watch.
Super Bowl LII Guide
When Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Carson Wentz tore his ACL, it looked like Philly was done for. Now, they are anything but. When Wentz was healthy, they were a force to be reckoned with. They had both the defense and the offense. When they were to play the Minnesota Vikings, most people, (including me) thought there was just no way. Critics of Nick Foles—the Eagles’ backup QB—said that there was no way an inexperienced playoff QB could beat a team as good as the Vikings. The final score was 38-7. Eagles. The Philly police put Crisco on the street poles to prevent the fans from climbing them, but that didn’t stop them. The fans climbed on the poles and celebrated for hours. The Patriots also had a tough path to get to Super Bowl LII. First, they played the Tennessee Titans. It did not go well for the Titans. The Titans lost, 35-14. Then, the Jacksonville Jaguars. Many people were surprised that the Steelers lost to the Jags. The Jags then trolled the Steelers for looking ahead to the Patriots. The Jaguars’ main offensive weapon is rookie running back Leonard Fournette. Their defense is amazing. Their secondary, dubbed the “Jackson 5” has Barry Church, Tashaun Gipson, Aaron Colvin, A.J. Bouye, AND Jalen Ramsey. Their D-line has Malik Jackson, Calais Campbell, and Yannick Ngakoue. They also have Paul Posluszny, Myles Jack, and Telvin Smith as linebackers. In all, that defense is fast, young, and lethal. The Jaguars were a tough opponent t0 beat. The Pats were down 14-10 at the half and faced a double digit deficit. A touchdown catch by Danny Amendola, a key swat by Stephon Gilmore, and a game-sealing run by Dion Lewis gave the Patriots the W. Next, I will break down the offense, defense and special teams into categories and give one team an advantage for each category. The Offense: Rushing: Both teams have decent rushing attacks, though neither has a workhorse running back (like Todd Gurley II). I would give just a teeny edge to the Eagles with Jay Ajayi and LeGarrette Blount on that one. Passing: The Patriots have Tom Brady. The Eagles have an injured Carson Wentz. And a healthy Nick Foles. With Carson Wentz, (the healthy kind) I would say Brady by a little. Now, Brady wins by a lot. The Defense: D-line: Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham are hard to beat, and Tre Flowers, Alan Branch, and Deatrich Wise just don’t do it for me. I’d give this one to Philly. Linebackers: With the addition of ex-Steeler James Harrison, and Dont’a Hightower, New England gets this one. The Eagles do have a strong linebacker team with Jordan Hicks and Danell Ellerbe, though. Secondary: Though the Patriots have Stephon Gilmore and Malcolm Butler, I’m going to give Jalen Mills, Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod the nod for this one. Special Teams: Kickers and Punters: Jake Elliot (Eagles) and Stephen Gostkowski (Patriots) are basically tied, but adding in Donnie Jones (Eagles) and Ryan Allen (Patriots) give the Eagles the advantage here. Returners: Amendola and Dion Lewis (Patriots) are both better-than-average returners. The Eagles just don’t have anyone like that. Advantage: Patriots. While the Eagles look like they have more advantages, for me there is only one factor: The Eagles containing Tom Brady. The Eagles have more individual categories, but Tom Brady on a great night will erase all of that. If they contain Brady, they have a better-than-average chance.
