Sports by Cannon


NFL Playoff Predictions

by Mike Cannon


It's that time of the year, everyone. The start of the NFL postseason is before us. These past few weeks as a Jets fan has been as antagonizing as can be, so in a way talking about football makes me cringe inside, but it's also good in another way because it makes me more of an objective spectator for the upcoming games.  

The NFL season in itself has been absolutely crazy. It started with lockout talks, then missing some of preseason, a "dream team" forming, and finally evolving into a season with records breaking all over the place. Guys like Victor Cruz, Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski are now popular household  names among fantasy players. Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and others have turned the QB position into even a more dominant role than it was, and a couple of teams have said either "fuck defense", "fuck the run game" or both. It's been an entertaining season to say the least.

I'm going to give my predictions and a brief synopsis of who I think will win these playoff matches to give fans a little something to think about going into this weekend. I'll start with the AFC first, then NFC. I will only do games this weekend. Then I will go week to week stating my predictions for the next rounds. This is a good opportunity for you guys to rip on me for anything I get wrong this round.


AFC Wildcard- Pittsburgh @Denver: The last thing I want to see is "Tebow Time" and have it be discussed on SportsCenter for about 40 hours the following week. I'll admit that Tim Tebow had an amazing stretch of wins, but it looks like that's settled down to Earth. The fact is, he's going to need to complete passes for Denver to have a shot against a team like the Steelers, and based on his past, even in his wins, that's something he hasn't been capable of doing consistently. Pittsburgh's D is tough and will confuse Tebow and pressure him. I know the Steelers have a couple guys banged up but I don't see that being a problem. Steelers win relatively easy.

Prediction: Pittsburgh- 24 Denver- 7



AFC Wildcard: Cincinnati @Houston: Between injuries and general late inconsistency with these two teams in the recent weeks, I don't see either team as any sort of threat. Houston has had injury problems which is unfortunate. Andre Johnson being hurt was tough, and Schaub may have been even tougher. It's unfair to put T.J. Yates in such a role with high expectations, but that's what it's come down to. This one can go either way for me. The Bengals had a successful year, but they are also young, inexperienced, and simply haven't proven they've risen to an elite status quite yet. I'll take Cinci in a close one and make the two road AFC teams be victorious. Sorry Houston.

Prediction: Cincinnati- 28 Houston- 16



NFC Wildcard: Detroit @New Orleans: To me, this is the most intriguing matchup of the first round. I say this because Stafford has been on fire lately. There was a stretch where he seemed to have lost his connection with Calvin Johnson due to double teams, defensive changes, etc. but that seems to be back now. This game will be a shootout. Hardly any team can stop the Saints' offense, if anyone at all. If Detroit wants to win this game they need to be right in the mix with them offensively and get one or two big turnovers and capitalize. I like the Lions a lot and was tempted to take this as an upset pick, but with New Orleans being at home in the dome and Brees having a magical season, it will be too tough.

Prediction: Detroit- 27 New Orleans- 38



NFC Wildcard: Atlanta @New York: It can't get much sweeter than it has been for Giants fans than it has been the last two weeks. Both teams they hate the most were knocked out of the playoffs, by the Giants own doing. The Giants did what they needed to do and there's no doubt they deserve all the credit for backing things up. A couple things to watch out for though. The last three weeks have been Washington, NYJ and Dallas. They lost to the Redskins at home which was awful, they beat the Jets but in all honesty didn't play spectacular. (Eli was 9 for 27, 11 first downs all game on offense), and Dallas at home was a great win but the fact of the matter is, Dallas is an 8-8 team. What I'm trying to say is while these are great victories on a playoff-standing level, and a moral one, Atlanta is better than any of these teams. They have a better run game and defense than the Giants do. Eli will need to have a day, which is something he's more than capable of doing. I have a feeling the Giants pull this one out because of momentum and home field, but the score will make Giants fans a little uneasy.

Prediction: Atlanta- 21 New York- 27



That's it for the first round. Let the debating begin.


Posted: December 17, 2011

The Clippers' Big Move

by Mike Cannon

If you’re an NBA fan, you’ll like this article, if not….read anyway:


I will say that with all these trade rumors, signings and rosters changing, I am becoming extremely excited to watch the NBA this year. The NBA has not gotten me this intrigued since the 90’s. That’s partly because the Knicks haven’t been good  recently, but also the ‘90s had great storylines, rivalries and feuds. The last couple of years with trades, the lockout, multiple “big 3s”, last year's NBA finals, etc. have brought it back in that direction. Combine the drama that’s happened already with the fact the NCAA basketball has one of the most talented draft classes in years, we are looking at one of the better basketball seasons in a while.

Chris “CP3” Paul, one of the most talked about guys of the offseason, was traded Wednesday night to the LA Clippers. For those of you who are unaware, the Hornets traded Paul to the Clippers for guard Eric Gordon, forward Al-Farouq Aminu, center Chris Kaman and a first-round draft choice. (The Clippers also received two 2nd round picks from it as well)

First off, I want to say this is a great deal for the Hornets. They have very good young talent and a lottery pick to work around. I think the majority of the people agree this deal definitely works for them and would take it in a heartbeat. The more debatable topic is how it works for the Clippers. Some people say this made their team worse; I disagree. I like this move for the Clippers too. Even if you want to make the argument that the Hornets got the better of the trade, that doesn’t mean the Clippers should be upset by it. They should be excited. Blake Griffin IS excited big time, by the way. The NBA is a star-driven league, the Clippers have the pieces to be contenders now, and they acted on it. Plus, the Clippers have a different motive and direction than the Hornets for their future right now. There’s nothing wrong with a trade working for both teams.

Let’s break down the Clippers transactions and lineup:

Adding Chris Paul over Eric Gordon: Even after watching Paul for several years, I still think the people who say this trade makes the Clippers worse underestimate how good Paul is. While Gordon is very good, he's nowhere near Paul's level yet and most likely will never be. Paul is a game/team changer, he's the best point guard in the game. There's a reason he's put up numbers comparable to Oscar, Magic, and Isaiah at this point in his career. Paul is much better than Gordon now, and will be for probably at least five years barring no injuries (his past knee issues really aren’t as bad as people make it out to be, and it’s over-dramatic and unfair comparing him to Brandon Roy). With all his talent and the fact that he’s much better at improving the players around him, he’s much more valuable than Gordon's potential.

Adding Billups:  The fact that the Knicks are the ones who have to pay $12 million out of Billups’ $14 million dollar salary is good in itself, then add everything else and you got to really like this addition for L.A. Billups is a veteran leader, an unselfish player who gets people involved, but also doesn’t mind taking offense into his own hands if he’s feeling it. He’s a great shooter and he makes teammates around him better. I think, if nothing else, Billups will be a nice contributor and is the smart kind of player who can easily adjust to the SG role without any problem.

Adding Butler: Caron Butler has had his share of injury problems, no doubt, but I think this is a good risk-reward signing. Butler is definitely a very solid player when healthy and could contribute offensively. Plus, Ryan Gomes can come off the bench and help out in that small forward role for LA.

Re-signing DeAndre Jordan: The Clippers probably overpaid for Jordan, but the market value is high for big men and it doesn’t intend to go down. The Kwame Brown signing for $7 million is a good example of it. Jordan is only twenty three years old, and he’s shown signs of athleticism and being able to produce a lot of value. Add that to the fact that the best PG in the game will be there to pass him the ball and work with, you should expect nothing but further improvement and development from the young big man.


Rise of Blake Griffin: We haven’t seen the best of Blake yet. He’s still young and hasn’t even peaked at his prime. I don’t think you can ask for a better guy than CP3 for Griffin to work with and develop into more of a star. I think Griffin will break out even more this year, and really become one of the league’s premier players.

 Losing Aminu: I don’t think Aminu is as big of a loss as people are making him out to be. Even if the Clippers kept him he wouldn’t have started. And although he’s still young, he really wasn’t that great last year nor did he really show that many signs that he will be a future star. I wouldn’t consider him a huge loss long term, and I think he’s certainly replaceable in the future. I don’t even think he’d start over Trevor Ariza in New Orleans either this year. That’s not to say I’m ruling him out completely, but I just don’t see it as a devastating loss for the Clippers’ future.

Losing Kaman: The first argument you’ll hear FOR Kaman is that he is a decent, serviceable center who was an all-star 2 years ago. Well, he’s fallen off since then. While I definitely think it would have been nice for the Clippers to keep Kaman for this year as depth, he’s not young and he’s had frequent injury issues. He's missed 50+ games 2 of the last 3 years (and close to 30 the year before that) Add that to the fact he wasn’t that great last year, it’s not like he’d be a part of the long term plan anyways. Plus, he’d be a bench player for L.A. this year regardless.

Losing 1st round draft pick: This is the big one. I agree this is probably the toughest to give up and the biggest thing, aside from Gordon, the Hornets should be happy about. But it’s also not fair to fully judge because right now it’s based on speculation. We don’t know exactly what pick it will be. It could be the 1st pick, it could be the 10th. We don’t know, and until then, we can’t automatically assume the Hornets will get some major draft pick who will turn into a superstar. But, I will say it’s safe to assume the Hornets will definitely benefit from young talent with it. Especially with this very talented incoming draft class.

The Bench and trade value: Since the Clippers now have 5 point guards on their team, (Paul, Billups, Randy Foye, Eric Bledsoe and Mo Williams) they certainly have room to make moves. They also have depth in that guard position to help out Billups. Bledsoe has a ton of potential, so personally I’d hold onto him, but Mo Williams can definitely be tradeable; even Foye if possible. Their holes right now are probably bench scoring and big man depth, and while every team has holes and isn’t perfect, they can still try to improve these areas.

Bottom Line: I like this team. I think they will be really fun to watch; particularly with Griffin and Jordan catching lobs from Paul. Like Griffin said, “It’s gonna be lob city.” I can definitely see them being contenders in the Western Conference this year too. And I like their future beyond just this year. With Griffin, Jordan, and even Bledsoe they still have a lot of young potential to work with, they'll still have cap space for next offseason, and the roster now is going to make them a much more attractive FA destination than they've been in the past, and really ever for the Clippers. (You have to remember the Clippers are still in LA, and while they will never be the Lakers, it’s still a major market) Should be an interesting season, Christmas day is right around the corner.






Posted: November 30, 2011

Five Tips on NFL Game Attendance

by Mike Cannon


On Sunday, I attended my first live NFL football game of the year. As a Jets fan I was happy with the overall outcome, no matter how many times the Jets feel the need to make you feel uneasy. I usually attend about two games per year, so this was nothing new for me. However, it feels new every time.

No matter how many games I see, I'm always amazed at the scenery, the size of everything, and the general atmosphere. Attending football games is one of the most exciting things to do as a sports fan, especially if your team is competitive like the Jets have been over the past couple of years. 

Over my years of going to different NFL games, I have discovered there are fans who know what they’re doing when going to games, and then there are people you can tell have never been to a game before. There are a couple unwritten rules about being a fan at games some people need to follow. I’ll use going to a Jets game as an example:

Fireman Ed
1) IF YOU'RE A FAN OF AN OPPOSING TEAM, BE SMART ABOUT IT. 
Expect to get yelled at. If you pick a fight in a stadium of 75,000 people in which 85% of them are not on your side, you’re just not going to win. It’s fine to root for your favorite team, but don’t be obnoxious about it. There’s two types of these people:
  • Opposing fans who taunt, mock and yell at the home crowd when their team is losing, which                              will ultimately lead to a fight or something being thrown.
  • The guy who wears a Tom Brady or Dan Marino jersey at a Jets-Bills game just to piss people off. 
New York fans are not the friendliest in the world, and when you do it to a team, like the Jets, with a history of losing and blowing big games, they want no part of remembering it. One of my friends, who is a Bills fan, was with me Sunday, wearing a Bills jersey. He was walking around innocently, and even he got mocked several times, once by a 10-year old. He handled it well, so it didn't escalate. But don’t be the guy who ends up in the jail truck at the stadium because you couldn’t take a little trash talking. Be prepared for that stuff; it comes along with being the fan of a rival.

2) JERSEYS
Jumbo Elliott
  • Don’t wear jerseys of players who were terrible for your team--
    • New York fans are unforgiving. If a player was bad for their team, that player will be hated for it. The Jets have had a history of bad draft picks and busts. They have also had guys who just didn’t cut it in New York. Plus, wearing a Jets Brett Favre jersey is just lame. Get a new one, or don’t wear one at all. Jersey-wearing at NFL games is to show support of your team. Wearing a jersey of a guy who didn’t help your team is not going to be liked by anyone.
  • Be creative with your jerseys--I divided this into two parts. The first one explained what not to wear, but if you are going to wear one, be creative. Nothing helps make random friends quicker than wearing an old school jersey of a player that fans get a kick out of. While wearing a Sanchez jersey is the norm, it’s predictable. The guys who get the most fans and laughs are the guys with Ray Mickens, Adrian Murrell and Jumbo Elliott jerseys.
3) PICKING GOOD TIMES TO GET FOOD OR GO TO THE BATHROOM
This one is just using common sense. It’s just common courtesy to consider the situation. You don’t want to be the guy who gets screamed at by fans yelling “DOWN IN FRONT ASSHOLE!” because you’re in the way of their view. If it’s 3rd and goal in a tie game, late in the 4th quarter, going to the bathroom and blocking someone’s view of the play is not the brightest idea. And if you do it by mistake, you BETTER hope the play works out in a positive way or be prepared to get yelled at. It’s best to go in between plays. I have found it best to go after a punt return or kickoff. There is a stoppage in play and it’s rare for something meaningful to happen.

4) IF YOU ARE FRIENDLY TO PEOPLE AT A TAILGATE, YOU CAN GET FREE FOOD


Tailgating at games is just a great atmosphere. Everyone is happy, enjoying the weather, the alcohol, the food, and excited for a day of football. There’s really no reason for anyone to be in a bad mood at one of these, therefore, people are very generous when it comes to sharing. It’s best to look for the hardcore tailgaters, guys who come in fan trucks, party busses, etc. If they are diehard enough to travel to the game like that, they will be pleased when a fellow fan starts talking to them, and it’s almost always a guarantee they will have extra food and beer lying around. I’m not just talking about hot dogs and hamburgers. I’ve seen things from ribs, sushi, steaks, lobsters, meatball subs, pancakes, roasted nuts, you name it. Some people even have TV’s hooked up with inflatable seats. After the game, if it was an exciting for the home team, that’s the gold mine. After-parties in the parking lot can last hours.

5) Know the situation when leaving
If the Jets blew that game yesterday, all hell would have broken loose among the fans. I have witnessed awful losses as a sports fan, mainly because I seem to have awful choices in picking teams, like the Mets and Jets. I've been there for plenty of bad Jets losses, I have witnessed the Mets collapse in person numerous times, it’s just not a pleasant situation to be in. If a bad loss happens, there will be a lot of swearing and possibly things thrown. Expect to be pushed when going out of the stadium and any side comment like “uh, excuse me?” might make someone snap; just keep quiet. When pulling out of the parking lot, a lot of people will try to cut each other off. If it’s a big close win, people will be more patient, be so excited that they want to embrace it by staying a little longer. It’s amazing how the attitudes of people change.




Posted: November 13, 2011

College Basketball Mid Major Sleepers for 2011-2012
(and Some Tips for Your Bracket in March)

by Mike Cannon

We’ve heard plenty over the last week about the Penn State scandal. And we’ve heard now for 135 days about the NBA lockout. But what’s getting overlooked, in a sense, is the start of College Basketball. It’s one of my favorite things to follow throughout the year. Everyone loves March Madness and filling out the brackets. It’s one of those things where everyone seems to get involved no matter how much they watch over the course of the year. Some people watch and analyze games from November on, while others fill out brackets because they’re in an office pool and they've heard of Duke. Either way it’s fun for all types of fans.

Every year during the tournament, we see upsets by mid major teams that very few people predicted. This is partly what makes the tournament so great and exciting, but also, it's frustrating, as it ruins your bracket at times. It’s depressing when you think you’re the smartest guy in the world and predict an upset and it ends up backfiring on you. Or even worse; calling a huge upset that few people have, only for it to come up just short at the last second. There’s also nothing worse than seeing your bracket crumble to pieces while looking across from you and seeing some clueless person, who just picks teams based on colors and names,  be, somehow, ahead of you in the standings . Even the people that just NEVER pick any upsets are annoying. The worst was when I had one girl ask me one time if the numbers (seeds) next to the teams were how many wins they had on the season. I jokingly said "Yes", to mess with her. Then she goes “Wow Duke  isn’t really having a good year huh?” Duke was a one seed that year. I just cringed. It’s these kind of people that drive you nuts if they finish ahead of you.

 "I'm really smart," he's saying.
Anyway, in more recent years, we’ve seen an increase in the number of mid-major and low-seed teams traveling further in the tournament. VCU last year, and Butler the last two years are just examples. There’s others even last year you forget about. Remember Morgan St. over Louisville? Richmond over Vandy? Over recent years you’re hearing more about Gonzaga, St. Mary’s, etc. A lot of mid-major sleeper teams have a good amount in common when it comes to upsetting the big schools. And that is: ball movement, three point shooting, and foul shooting. Athletically, the majority of the time, these mid-major teams can’t compete based on size and physicality. So they have to use something on more of an even playing field like teamwork and shooting as an advantage. Butler’s head coach Brad Stevens, for example, has always said when he recruits someone out of high school he doesn’t go crazy with high school stats, other than three point percentage and foul shooting percentage. From there, he finds undervalued guys and fits them into his system.

Let’s be honest, no one will ever get this perfect, and the tournament is impossible to fully predict correctly, but it helps if you know a little info beforehand about possible sleeper teams. Here are some possible mid-major sleeper teams coming into the 2011-2012 season that may surprise you come March.

An angry Keith Wright, and a scared white boy. 
Harvard: Don’t laugh. These guys may be really smart, but they can also play basketball. The defending Ivy league co-champions are looking to bounce back from their heartbreaking loss in the one-game playoff against Princeton last year that decided who made it into the tournament. They have their leading scorer and Ivy League player of the year Keith Wright returning for another season. The 6’8" Wright is on the Naismith top 50 watch list for this year as well. Kyle Kasey is another athletic big man who can rebound and block shots. From what we’ve learned out of the Ivy League in recent years with Cornell and Penn’s success, and even last year with Princeton nearly upsetting Kentucky first round, is to not underestimate these teams.
Belmont: Sure, this pick looks a lot better based on their close game with Duke last night. But I've had this team on watch for a while. They were A LOT of people’s upset pick last year against Wisconsin in the tournament. They are excellent at moving the ball around. Head coach Rick Byrd has designed a quick- moving offense that finds an open shot; most of the time a three-pointer. The Bruins were one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country last year. Guys like Hedgepeth and Saunders will contribute, and Belmont is returning NINE out of eleven guys from last year. They can shoot, they are experienced, and they can compete with a ton of power conference teams. Watch the Duke game from last night if you don’t believe me. Look out for them.
Detroit: Now here is a team that hasn’t been relevant at the NCAA tournament level since 1997 and 1998 when they had back-to-back years of first round upsets beating St. John’s and UCLA. Since then, not much has come out from them. This year might be different though. They are a Horizon League team, and at this point, I think we know not to dismiss ANY team from there, based on Butler’s success. However, now that Butler lost some key guys, the conference is wide open. Detroit might be the most talented team in the conference. They return 100% of their team from last year. Ray McCallum Jr., the head coach’s son, is one of the conference’s best players if not the best. I was all ready to name this team my top sleeper team of the year. BUT THERE’S A HUGE PROBLEM! Eli Holman, the team’s PF/C is out on “indefinite leave” from the program on accusation of assault. Holman is huge in the front court, and his return is so speculative at this point it’s hard to judge when it will happen, if at all. They are still very good without him, but this sleeper pick highly depends on his return or not. If he comes back though, I like this team a lot.
Long Beach State: Although I don’t know much about this team as much as the others, everything I’ve read about them last year and this year look great. Casper Ware is the only player I’ve remotely heard of, as he is the reigning Big West Player of the Year. When doing my conference tournament picks last year I had them winning the Big West. They were the regular season champions. Came up short in the conference tourney finals two years in a row now. This year could be the year they breakout. They have a tough out of conference (OOC) schedule, but it will boost their RPI big time as well as give them an opportunity for impressive wins.
Scott Machado, Iona Gaels
Iona/Fairfield: I’ll put these two together since they are both MAAC teams. This may be a biased selection as I am a Fairfield University and MAAC fan in general, but could this be the year the MAAC actually gets two teams in the tournament since I was in 3rd grade? Possibly. Siena and Manhattan have certainly given the MAAC a better reputation in recent years with tournament wins. The league is top heavy this year, but the top teams are legit. I’ll start with Iona. Most preseason predictions give Iona the very slight edge over Fairfield, and that is mainly because of the late acquisition of transfer Lamont “MoMo” Jones, who was recently cleared by the NCAA to play. If the name sounds familiar, you might remember him on Arizona last year as a key contributor in their Elite 8 run. Senior Mike Glover is one of the MAAC’s top picks for conference player of the year. Scott Machado showed last year he’s one of the conference’s premier point guards. The bar is high for this team, and they are talented enough to upset someone. Fairfield is another team right up there with Iona. The league’s regular season champions last year come in with a new coach in Sydney Johnson after Ed Cooley departed for Providence. Johnson arrived at Fairfield from Princeton. I already mentioned before how Princeton almost upset Kentucky in the first round last year, but Johnson as a player himself is familiar with upsets. (One of my favorite tournament upsets ever, Gus Johnson alert!!!) The Stags also have very high expectations. They are returning one of the league’s best players in Derek Needham. Ryan Olander and Maurice Barrow will help on the front court. Houston transfer Desmond Wade will be a nice addition as well. But the key for Fairfield is Boston College transfer RakimSanders. Easily could be league’s best player by year’s end. They have key OOC games that they can win like Providence, Minnesota, Old Dominion and Arizona St. These wins could help them a lot at a chance for an at large bid. It would be tough to get two MAAC teams in the tourney, but not impossible. If the Colonial League can get three in last year, MAAC can get two.

Some other notes and predictions:



Posted: November 6, 2011



by Mike Cannon

The other night I was bored and started flipping through channels on TV. Finally, I got to the section where the movie channels started. Nothing seemed to be on that worth watching, so I was scrolling through fast. During my light-speed scrolling, I passed a movie which I thought said, “Space Jam.” Being already bored, and knowing that the movie itself is something I loved as a kid; I decided to go back and watch. Great decision. Space Jam is awesome. Even though the box score and storyline didn’t always makes sense, does it honestly really matter? Michael Jordan was playing basketball with Looney Tunes against aliens who transformed into NBA mutants. It can’t get much crazier than that.

One of my favorite things about it is all of the real-life athletes appearing in it. Patrick Ewing, Mugsy Bogues, Larry Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shawn Bradley, and of course Jordan himself were all funny in it. Larry Bird was funny in the small role he had too. I love the random athlete appearances in things like that.
From there, this led me to think about athletes making cameos in non-sports related media. I started thinking about music videos, and some of them made me laugh at the randomness in them. I then compiled a list of what I thought were the best songs where an athlete makes a random appearance in the music video. The song has to be good, and so does the athlete. So, I’m sorry to say Anna Kournikova (as good looking as she is), didn’t make the cut in Enrique Inglesias’ “Escape” video. There are plenty of videos, so feel free to add some.

Here’s my top 5:

Honorable mention: Daunte Culpepper (Lil Wayne ft. Mack- Shine)

                Ok. I’m not a Weezy fan by any means. I actually think he’s one of the most overrated rappers in the history of hip hop, but that’s another story. I went against my own rule in this, this song sucks. BUT, the randomness is too ridiculous for me to not even mention it. At around 0:57 seconds, you see a guy bouncing and nodding his head real quick feeling the beat. I saw this the first time and had to go back. WHAT is Daunte Culpepper doing in this video? And if he is going to be in it, why is there only a 2 second clip of him through the whole song? Crazy stuff.

5. Ray Allen (Public Enemy- He Got Game)

                For people who have seen the movie, this one was kind of a given. This song is awesome too though. Cool beat from a Buffalo Springfield song. And Ray Allen was really good in the movie. For anyone who has never seen He Got Game, I recommend it. One of my all time favorite sports movies. Spike Lee did a sick job directing it.

4. Jalen Rose (Jadakiss- We Gonna Make it)

Most people probably would not have picked this up for two reasons. 1) Because the cameo itself is really short. It’s only about a couple seconds long. And 2) A lot of people probably didn’t recognize Jalen Rose. You can see him around the 3:03 mark waving his hands in the back. Again, another one where I find this really random but I don’t care. Jalen Rose is the man and this song is dope. Probably my favorite Jadakiss song. The beat is really catchy and although the music video itself really edits a lot of it out, the song is legit. Also, at around 0:25, that may or may not be Ludacris, can’t tell.

3. Carmelo Anthony and Terrell Owens (Common- Be)

I always wished this Common song was longer. It is one of his more catchy beats and has a nice rhythm, and Be (also the name of the album) is probably his best album, but the song itself is only 2 ½ minutes long. C’mon Man! Anyway, T.O. and Melo are seen many times throughout the song so I don’t have to point them out for you. As a Knicks fan, Melo has become one of my favorite players in the NBA and T.O was a star at the time this was made. I think the video itself is pretty cool too so this cracks the top 3.

2. Ron Artest aka Metta World Peace (Nas- Nas is Like)

MAJOR PROPS to the person who can find the young Ron Artest in this video without scrolling down and checking. His cameo makes it even cooler because Artest wasn’t even in the NBA yet, still very young, but had grown up in the same neighborhood as Nas. SAY QUEENSBRIDGE! Also, for anyone who doesn’t know the full story behind this beat/song I suggest you read more about it. It’s really cool. DJ Premier is the best hip-hop producer of all time and this song is just one example why.
(pause it at 1:25 and you see him giving a high five to Nas)

1. Dan Marino, Alonzo Mourning Fred Couples etc. (Hootie and The Blowfish- Only Wanna Be With You) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln6WQqRDrCo&ob=av2e
(YouTube won't let us embed, but follow the link!)

I bet you expected this to be a rap song, right? Nope. This song/video is really cool. Are Hootie and the Blowfish and this video both really corny? Absolutely. But that’s what makes it even funnier. I actually like this song. And the idea to make this a SportsCenter themed video is really creative. I love the old school theme music. Keith Olberman, Dan Patrick, Mike Tirico, Charley Steiner and Chris Berman being behind the desk is really throwback. I thought the part where they just get their shit swatted by Alonzo Mourning, Alex English and Charles Smith was great to watch. Dan Marino’s reactions were funny on the dropped passes. Plus this video is nostalgic, which fits the original first line I had in this whole thing.

There you have it. Peace out.

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