Author: Matt Leaman

Elliott will be suspended for 6 games: According to ESPN, Ezekiel Elliott has been suspended by the NFL for the first six games this season for violating the personal conduct policy. The suspension stems from an alleged domestic violence case from July of 2016 in Ohio. Elliott has been in the news more than once with off-the-field antics since coming into the league. https://twitter.com/nfl/status/896042600544731136 Though the suspension is based off the domestic violence, he’s also been in the news for other off-field issues. He reportedly injured a man’s nose at a local Dallas bar before training camp this year and…

Cardinals window to win closing fast: The past few seasons have resurrected Arizona Cardinals football, but last season was marred by injuries and disappointment. Yet, the same core of veteran players will return this season with the goal remaining the same: winning the Super Bowl. With QB Carson Palmer and WR Larry Fitzgerald returning for their 15th and 14th seasons respectively, this season may be the last real opportunity to achieve that goal. Not having to rely solely on Palmer’s aging arm, the Cardinals can run their offense through star running back, David Johnson. Last season, he finished the year…

The best team in baseball just got even better. Right before the deadline, the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Yu Darvish from the Texas Rangers, Fox Sports first reported. The Rangers will get prospects Willie Calhoun, A.J. Alexy and Brendon Davis in return. Darvish will take over as the clubs ace until Clayton Kershaw comes off the DL with a back injury. https://twitter.com/sportingnews/status/892123178864177154 Darvish, in the midst of his worst season in the majors, still owns a 4.01 ERA, with 148 strikeouts in 137 innings pitched. He’s coming off a start in which he gave up 10 ER versus the Miami…

Yu Darvish – Texas Rangers Yu Darvish, arguably the best pitcher available at the deadline, will become a free agent at the end of this season. This most likely makes him a rental for the rest of the season. So far this year, Darvish, holds a 3.44 ERA, with 143 SO, in 133 innings pitched. Comparable moves in the past would be the Brewers trading for CC Sabathia, or Jon Lester being dealt to the A’s in 2014. Wherever Darvish goes, he will slot in as the number one or two starter. Potential landing spots where I can see Darvish…

Kyrie Irving no longer wants to play alongside LeBron James: Is Cleveland’s long run of Eastern Conference dominance about to end? It certainly seems this is possible with the latest rumors surrounding LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. The last image I remember from the NBA Finals was LeBron telling Kyrie, “we’ll be back.” Despite nothing but praise from Kyrie about LeBron, it looks as if he wants to move on to the next chapter of his career. Is Kyrie going to leave LeBron in the dust and force his exit from Cleveland? https://twitter.com/bleacherreport/status/888484560895447040 According to sources, Kyrie met with the…

Before the 2011 season, the Los Angeles Clippers acquired Chris Paul. He was getting ready to team-up with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. The day the Clippers made the move for Paul, Griffin said, “It’s going to be lob city.” This was the moment that the name “Lob City” was born. https://twitter.com/sportscenter/status/886198093720498177 At the time, fans and media were ready to claim them as the next great team. Six years later, here we are as Chris Paul departs LA and heads to Houston, where he will now play with All-Star, James Harden. Let’s take a closer look at the best…

Martinez traded to Arizona in exchange for 3 prospects: https://twitter.com/mlbonfox/status/887441454636843009 For some weeks now, the Arizona Diamondbacks have been looking for a right-handed power bat to jump start their lineup. They found their man on Monday afternoon when they acquired J.D Martinez from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for prospects Dawel Lugo, Sergio Alcantara and Jose King. The fourth ranked prospect in the D-backs organization, Lugo, is the player the Tigers most coveted in return. The Tigers now begin their rebuild, as they are falling out of contention, despite winning four games in a row. They sit 5 games back…

https://twitter.com/lakers/status/885706489041526784 Lonzo Ball and Lakers cruise past Cleveland Cavaliers into round of 8: Behind another Lonzo Ball triple-double, the Lakers are moving on to the Summer League quarterfinals. They took care of business on Thursday night, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers, 94-83. The offense had production from a handful of players, and they found their flow for the second straight night. Lakers will next face the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday. https://twitter.com/lakers/status/885720804624809986 The Lakers focus to this point have been getting out in transition and allowing Ball to find open teammates to create offense. Kyle Kuzma continues to be the main beneficiary…

Lakers fall 96-93 to Clippers to open Summer League action in Vegas: The crowd was fired up and ready to go, but the Lakers unfortunately came up short to open their Summer League slate. The Los Angeles Clippers took care of business in overtime, 96-93 on Friday night in Las Vegas. Lonzo Ball struggled and didn’t live up to expectations in his debut. Ball, did however, get the crowd going early with this alley-oop pass that was right on the money to Brandon Ingram: https://twitter.com/sportscenter/status/883489093648347140 Overall, Ball finished the night shooting 2-of-15 from the field, including 1-of-11 from deep. One…

With the All Star break upon us, let’s take a look at the top-5 teams in baseball to this point (As of July 1): Are they pretenders or contenders? *Slash Line: (BA/OBP/Slugging) **Stats through July 1, 2017 #5–Colorado Rockies Led by manager Bud Black, the Colorado Rockies are a fascinating team. Coming in to the year, like every year, the question was whether or not the Rockies would get enough pitching to complement their strong offense. Halfway through the season the Rockies sit 48-34, and in third place, lurking behind the Dodgers and D-backs. Colorado ranks in the top-10 of…