NBA Contender's Picking Up Free Agent's Before Playoffs

With all the buy-outs taking place across the NBA a few playoff contender's are adding the new free agents to their squads just in time for their playoff runs.

Michael Hickey - US Presswire

The Los Angeles Clippers have added two players that will definitely help their team. The Clippers have picked up Glen "Big Baby" Davis who was bought out by the Orlando Magic, and they were also able to pick up former All Star Danny Granger, who was bought out by the Philadelphia 76ers after being traded from the Indiana Pacers in the Evan Turner trade.

The Clippers have set a tone across the NBA that they are prepared for battle with any team out there with these two key additions, and should make for a long playoff run with 1st year coach of the Clipperes,  Doc Rivers.

AP Photo/Tony Dejak

The Oklahoma City Thunder were also working on adding some strength to their second team as well with the pick-up of veteran SF Caron Butler. Butler reached a buy-out with the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday and was being coveted by both the Thunder as well as the two time defending champion Miami Heat. Butler ultimately decided to roll with the Thunder and informed both teams Friday morning.

Butler brings some help to a Thunder team that has relied heavily on Durant and are working on getting the rust off of Russell Westbrook. He is great with one-one-one defense and is able to knock down shots from mid-range to the deep three.

The Clippers and Thunder both made huge moves to help them thru the next couple months and they set themselves up for a great looking playoff run for both. These two teams have a very good chance to meet each other in the Western Conference Finals and these additions may be the difference in who wins and who go's home.

*This is a not a contender team but worth noting.
The Sacramento Kings are also in the works on signing PF Royce White to a 10-day contract. If you don't remember, White was originally drafted by the Houston Rockets last season but because of his anxiety and fear of flying caused a bunch of issues for the Rockets. He was traded to the 76ers and later released before the season started. White has yet to play in an NBA regular season game but has high hopes for his chances in Sacramento and hopefully can get his fears under control without the threatening of a lawsuit like he did with the Rockets.

The Eastern Conference is also in the works for some free agent pick-ups.

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

The Chicago Bulls are working on signing PG Jimmer Fredette, another buy-out free agent leaving the Sacramento Kings Thursday. They are still only in talks at the moment but the deal could break within the next 24 hours.

Adding Fredette to the Bulls would a great addition. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is well regarded as a defensive minded coach but has been able to let scoring point guards flourish in his system with Derrick Rose, Nate Robinson, and DJ Augustin. The pick up would bring another scoring option to the table for the Bulls who are only averaging 98.3 points per 100 possessions, which has them ranked 28th overall and could certainly use another shooter on their roster.

(Getty Images)

The New York Knicks had reached buy-outs with a couple of their players as well earlier in the week. The Knicks released PG Beno Udrih and SF Metta World Peace on Monday. Udrih was picked up as soon as he hit the waivers by the Memphis Grizzles who were looking to grab Fredette once he hit waivers but they realized that transaction would not go thru so they decided to grab the veteran PG as their backup to Mike Conley.

World Peace has yet to sign with a team and the talk around the NBA is that he has nothing left to offer a team. Time will tell in his situation but he does have the leadership skills to be able to help a young team thru the in's and out's of championship basketball having won the NBA title with the LA Lakers in the 2010 season.

Here are the current standings for the playoffs if they were to start today 2/28/2014

Eastern Conference:

1. Indian Pacers (44-13)
2. Miami Heat (41-14)
3. Toronto Raptors (32-26)* This has to be the surprise of the season thus far.
4. Chicago Bulls (31-26)
5. Washington Wizards (30-28)
6. Brooklyn Nets (27-29)
7. Charlotte Bobcats (27-30)
8. Atlanta Hawks (26-31)

Western Conference:

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (43-15)
2. San Antonio Spurs (41-16)
3. Portland Trail Blazers (40-18)
4. LA Clippers (40-20)
5. Houston Rockets (39-19)
6. Dallas Mavericks (36-23)
7. Golden State Warriors (35-23)
8. Phoenix Suns (33-24)

There is still a lot of basketball to be played and with some key free agent pickups to a few of these playoff teams we are going to be in for a great end of the NBA season and an even better NBA playoffs.

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Mayweather Selects Maidana As Next Opponent

Floyd "Money" Mayweather(45-0,26 KOs) has selected his opponent for his next fight on May 3rd, it will be Marcos Maidana(35-3, 31 KOs) for the WBC and WBA Welterweights titles.

This fight has been talked about since his last win over Canelo Alvarez back in September, although their was no word on who the champ would choose as his next opponent. The mystery was finally laid to rest on Monday when Mayweather announced via his twitter account that he had selected Maidana as his next opponent.

Rumors have swirled since his last fight over who he would choose as his opponent with talks of Amir Khan, Maidana, and even the blockbuster of Mayweather vs Pacquiáo, and now we finally have the answer.

Maidana's last fight was an upset victory over Adrien Broner. Maidana bullied Broner that fight and walked away as the new WBA Welterweight champion with a unanimous decision over Broner.

Mayweather praised Maidana in a statement he released saying, "Marcos Maidana's last performance immediately brought him to my attention,... He is an extremely skilled fighter who brings knockout danger to the ring. I think this is a great fight for me and he deserves the opportunity to see if he can do what 45 others have tried to do before him: Beat me."

The fight will take place at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas in which Mayweather has fought his last 8 fights. 

This will be Mayweather's 3rd pay-per-view thru his record breaking Showtime contract, in which he is signed for a 6 fight and 30 month deal worth upwards of $200 million, add that to the pay-per-view revenues and it would push his total past $250 million.

'Money' Mayweather is setting himself up for another huge year in the earnings department with his fight against Maidana. Hopefully this will set up for an exciting finish of the year with another fighter, maybe we will finally get our dream fight out of the way, Mayweather vs Pacquiáo, but don't hold your breath on that one.

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NFL Combine Catch-Up

What we have learned about this years players who attended the combine and participated through the first few days is, former Kent State RB Dri Archer is FAST, I mean Freaky Fast. Check below for more things we have learned about a few of the top prospects at their position.

Dri Archer - RB Kent State:

Archer has the best 40-yard dash time in the combine thus far with a time 4.26. That is the fastest since Chris Johnson's lightning performance in 2008 where he torched the competition and the field when he completed his record run at 4.24.

Even Chris Johnson got a little nervous watching Archer attempt to break his record, stating on twitter "Can't lie archer had the boi nervous"

Projected Round: 5

JaDeveon Clowney - DE South Carolina:

One of the most coveted prospects in  this years draft has not disappointed with his NFL combine performance. He leads all DE's  with a 4.53 in his 40-yard dash, a whopping 37.5" vertical jump, and a 124" broad jump. He very well may be the first pick in the draft this year and for good reasoning. He has the size 6-5, 266lbs to go with the talent with his main deterrent being his character issues. He was ticketed twice within the last year for speeding violations and has been seen as an athlete who does not give his all on every down. His talent keeps him as the top prospect and will not affect him being a top pick in this years draft

Project Round: 1 (Projected as a top 5 pick)

Johnny Manziel - QB Texas A&M:

Johnny Football was also a participant over the weekend where he ran a  4.56 in the 40-yard dash. The biggest deterrent to Manziel, besides the off the field issues that is, would be his height and measured out at 5-11 3/4, and weighed 207lbs. Manziel was also the leading QB at the combine in 20-yard shuffle drills, completing the drill in 4.03 seconds. The former Heisman winner has been all over the media with his high confidence and a kid who is ready to play with a chip on his shoulder. Sometimes he gets a little out of hand but I don't think it will be to bad of a thing in the NFL as long as he doesn't suffer a Ryan Leaf kind of meltdown.

Projected Round: 1 (Projected as a top 10 pick)

Bishop Sankey - RB Washington:

Former Washington Huskies RB Bishop Sankey also proved a lot in his time at the combine. He is ranked as the #3 RB in this years draft class. He came second in the bench press with 26 reps at 225lbs and ran a 4.47 on his 40-yard dash. The talk of Sankey was not only his speed and power but also his ability to catch the ball which is said to be the best out of all the running backs in this years draft class. Sankey also ranked as a top performer in the broad jump with 126", the 3-cone drill with a time of 6.75, as well as the 40-yard shuffle with a time of 4 seconds flat.

Projected Round: 2-3

Austin Sefarian-Jenkins - TE Washington:

Sefarian-Jenkins is projected as the top prospect in the TE's in this years class. He unfortunately is suffering from a fracture in his foot. The John Mackey award winner was only able to participate in the bench press because of the injury and got in 20 reps at 225lbs.

Projected Round: 1-2 (Late first round projection; possibly drafted by the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks)

Brandin Cooks - WR Oregon State:

Cooks showed a lot of upside during his time at the NFL combine. He was the leading WR in three separate categories and improved his draft stock substantially. He was the leading WR in the 40-yard dash with a time of 4.33, the best time in the 20-yard shuffle with a time of 3.81 and 60-yard shuffle with a time of 10.72. His glaring weakness that keeps from being the top wide out is his stature. Standing at only 5-10 knocks his draft stock a little but I have no doubt he will be a terrific slot receiver in the pros.

Projected Round: 1

Once the draft is complete I will give an update on the entire first round projections so be sure to check back.

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NBA All Star Weekend Recap

The NBA All Star Weekend is behind us and now it's time to reflect on the good and bad of the events that took place in New Orleans.

Celebrity All Star Game:

The weekend started off with the Celebrity All Star game that was actually a better game than recent years past. The game featured Snoop Dogg hitting a DEEP three that showcased his Kevin Durant range. Comedian Kevin Hart won his third consecutive MVP, although he would relinquish the title to US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan who lit up the stat sheet with 20 point, 11 rebounds, 6 assists.

Rising Stars Challenge:

Xinhua Photo

That game was followed by the Rising Stars game between rookies and sophomores and led by general managers Grant Hill and Chris Webber. Each manager got to select their own teams with Webber going with Anthony Davis with the first overall pick, Hill picked Damian Lillard to lead his team.

The game was the tale of two halves, with Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond holding it down in the first half, gaining 16 points and 10 rebounds in his first 10 minutes. He would continue his dominant performance in the second half, but the action was heating up everywhere else as well, so his performance took a backseat so to speak.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dion Waiters and New York Knicks guard Tim Hardaway Jr battled it out for the latter part of the second half with ankles being broke and a ridiculous battle of shot-for-shot. Hardaway finished the game with a game-high 36 points, Waiters would score a team Hill-high 31 points.

Another interesting one-on-one battle was the Plumlee brothers of Mason (Brooklyn Nets) and Miles (Phoenix Suns). One of the best highlights between the brothers was when Anthony Davis was looking to posterize Mason but instead got his attempt stuffed, Miles was able to grab the deflection and slam it down with a great heads up play.

Drummond would wind up winning the Rising Stars MVP, finishing with 30 points and 25 rebounds in a victory for Team Hill who beat Team Webber 142-136.

The trophy presentation suffered a little mishap when the sponsor/presenter dropped and broke the trophy while handing it to Drummond, check it out below.

All Star Saturday

NBA All Star Saturday had some new formats to the way some of the contests were played. There was nice additions to certain challenges such as the three point contest featuring a row of money balls placed wherever each competitor chose. There was also some odd new format changes such as the dunk contest adding a freestyle round and the most bizarre final round that had you thinking, "This can't be the end, it makes no sense." Even the broadcasters were confused on whether the contest had really just finished.

Portland Trailblazers second year guard Damian Lillard had his plate full the entire weekend, competing in 5 total events, including three on Saturday (Skills Challenge, Three Point Contest, and Slam Dunk Contest).

Shooting Stars Challenge:

(Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images)

The first event on Saturday was the Shooting Stars challenge which feature a player in the NBA, WNBA, and one former NBA player. That event included a close shot, a free throw shot, a three point shot and concluded after a half court shot. Chris Bosh won this event for the second straight year with teammates Swin Cash and NBA legend Dominique Wilkins.

Skills Challenge:

That was followed by the Skills Challenge, which was different than years past and featured two rounds of passing and shooting, along with obstacles throughout. The tandem of Damian Lillard and Trey Burke would win this event over Victor Oladipo and Michael Carter-Williams by a tenth of a second. This was Lillard's second consecutive year of winning this event although last year it was a singles competition.

Three Point Contest:

Next was the three point contest, which did not got the way I envisioned. I had strong hopes in Golden State Warriors guard Curry to win this competition, but instead got to watch a great final match-up between San Antonio Spurs Marco Belinelli and Washington Wizards Bradley Beal. These two met in the finals of the contest and were both able to put up 19 points to force a tiebreaker round. Belinelli was unstoppable in the final round, putting up 24 points which was the highest of the night and perfect timing to earn the three point contest championship over Beal.

Dunk Contest:

Last and certainly not least, at least in building up anticipation, was the Slam Dunk contest that would include three All Stars for the first time since 1988. Paul George, John Wall, and Damian Lillard were the All Stars and they had the pleasure (I use that word sarcastically here) to compete in the new format for the contest.

The dunk contest started with three players from each conference (East & West) perform a "freestyle round" where they could all dunk as many times as possible in a 90-second time frame. That wasn't too bad to watch because it resembled "NBA Street Vol 2" video game that was full of alley-oops you could pull off with multiple NBA athletes. I believe the best dunk of that round was easily the double alley-oop that went off the backboard, followed by a pass off the shot clock and ended with Paul George slamming it down, but you could insert any one of the players to finish off the dunk.

The next round was even more confusing with players going one-on-one with a player from the opposing conference. This was a little more easy to follow since it was one dunk per contestant but then the contest came to an unbelievable confusing end with each player only getting the one dunk and Wham! It was all over leaving the fans to vote for best dunker of the night.

The East went on to win the dunk contest, at least I think, because John Wall was crowned "Dunker of the Night" for the dunk trophy so it was either Wall or the East, I guess whatever you would prefer to consider the champion is who won.

I hope this format competes to a stop after this and the continue to use the old format of each dunker getting their own attempt and making it to the final round. If you didn't get to see the dunk contest this year do not worry because your were left without all the questions of what in the world where they thinking when the decided to go this route.

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NBA All Star Game Recap

Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images

Final Score: East 163, West 155
The highly anticipated NBA All Star game did not disappoint, as long as you have no care for defense.

The first quarter can be deemed "The Blake Griffin Show", who broke an NBA record for most field goals in a quarter when he made nine, eight of which came from dunks. Blake would finish the game tied with Kevin Durant for most points with 38, four shy of the great Wilt Chamberlain's All Star record of 42. Griffin broke a couple records during the All Star game, all coming because of made field goals, making a record 19-field goals for the entire game.

With Kevin Durant scoring 38-points Sunday he has now scored over 30-points in four consecutive All Star appearances and further put himself in the lead for ppg average in the All Star game with 30.6.

The East came out with the victory in this game thanks in large part to the 30-point game by Carmelo Anthony, who also broke the record for most 3-pointers in an All Star game with eight.

The highest honor, All Star MVP, was awarded to Kyrie Erving who was slicing and dicing the West while putting up 31 points (24 of which came in the second quarter tying the record for most points in a quarter), 5 rebounds, and 14 assists.

There was a multitude of records broke during the highest scoring All Star game in NBA history. NBA.com has put up a list that you can find here for all the records broke during the game.

Some of other things taking place during the event Sunday was the performance by Pharrell who was accompanied by Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, and Sean 'Diddy' Combs who performed during the introductions of the NBA All Stars. At halftime Magic Johnson led the entire stadium in singing 11-time NBA Champion Bill Russell "Happy Birthday" in honor of his 80th birthday which may have been the coolest scene of the eventful weekend.

One thing I think we can take away from this weekend is that some things are better left unchanged (Dunk Contest) and you sure can put on a dunk-fest without any defense being played.

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No NBA Team For Seattle... Yet

The new NBA commissioner Adam Silver has decided that now is not the time for an expansion team in Seattle.

Silver became the new NBA commissioner on February 1st after David Stern retired from his 30-year run as the head honcho of the NBA. It was said that one of Silver's top priorities would be to bring an NBA franchise back to Seattle, but he has since put a hold on that once he officially got his new title.

Silver has stated,"Seattle is a wonderful market. It would be very additive to the league to have a team there... but we're not planning on expanding right now, so it's not a function of price."

The NBA is set to begin new negotiations for TV contracts starting this summer. Once that is complete the owners of the NBA will have a better outlook into their own franchises future and what kind of revenue they will bring in from their TV contracts. The negotiations will be based on television and digital rights to NBA content. Once they have that price they will divide it to all the NBA owners, which will let them know exactly how much money an expansion team would take away from their base earnings from those deals.

That number will play a huge role in whether Seattle will be selected to receive an NBA expansion team. What the decision will come down to is, if the owners in the NBA decide the money they can make from Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer (The two leading the way in bringing an NBA franchise back to Seattle) is enough to make up for the money they would lose by sharing the revenue of the TV deal with another team, then they will reconsider the offer.

Hansen and Ballmer were already willing to invest $800 million towards bringing a team to Seattle. That would have gave each NBA owner $26 million dollars. Compare that to when the last expansion team, Charlotte Bobcats, were brought in for $300 million dollars or $10.3 million to each team.

Another bump in the road for an expansion team will be diluting the talent in the NBA. Silver has said, "I and the owners will look at not only the dilution of economic opportunities with one more partner to divide national and international money but also dilution of talent... Right now some are already making comments about the Eastern Conference, so is it the ideal time to be adding another 15 or 30 players to the league?"

As for now Seattle will have to continue to be used as a pawn for the NBA. Much like Seattle was used in getting Sacramento a new arena, the Milwaukee Bucks are the newest blip on the radar and Silver and the NBA will use relocation to Seattle as leverage to get a new arena built there as well.

Silver met with the Bucks sponsors last September and told them that their current arena, the Bradley Center, was unfit for an NBA team and that they needed a new arena. That caused a stir in Milwaukee, especially with the Bucks owner, 78-year old Herb Kohl, who announced in December that he was looking to sell a portion of the franchise but with one stipulation, he only wanted investors who wouldn't relocate the team.

Seattle will get their Sonics back eventually. I just hope its sooner rather than later because no NBA in Seattle means the only sport to focus on once football season is over is the Mariners, and nobody wants to do that.

Not to mention Seattle SuperSonics had the best mascot in the league, Squatch.

Also if you haven't checked out the pictures of what the arena will look like check it out here, Sonics Arena.

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Marcus Smart's Not So Smart Decision

Oklahoma State guard Marcus Smart has been suspended for three games for shoving a Texas Tech fan during their 65-61 loss Saturday night.

Smart was running down the court to try and block a Texas Tech fast break shot and tumbled into the media/photographers surrounding the court. While getting up a Tech fan by the name of Jeff Orr had said some insulting words to the 20-year old sophomore. Smart decided to make an not so smart decision and got into the fans face, they exchanged a couple words and then Smart pushed the fan to the entire arena's disbelief.

He was given a technical foul but was not ejected, although once he was placed on the bench he stayed their for the remainder of the game.

The suspension couldn't have came at a worse time for the Oklahoma State Cowboys who are currently on a four game losing streak and lost five of their last six after starting the season 15-2. Oddly enough Smart's first game back will come against Texas Tech, only this time the game will take place at the Gallagher-Iba Arena, home of the Cowboys.

Smart has came out to say that the fan had called him a racial slur, which is what instigated the altercation. The fan, Orr, has came out to say that he did not refer to the guard with a racial slur but he did confirm he had harassed the 20-year old, calling him a "Piece of crap".

Smart will now have to serve a 3-game suspension because of his actions, handed down to him by the Big 12 conference. The Texas Tech fan has also decided to not attend anymore games for the remainder of the season.

Smart has since apologized for his actions in a press conference aired on ESPN saying, "I want to apologize to the fan, whose name is Jeff Orr. I want to apologize to him. I want to apologize to my teammates, to my coaching staff, Coach Ford, my family, Oklahoma State University. This is not how I [conduct] myself, this is not how this program is ran. This is not how I was raised. I let my emotions get the best of me." 

"I Just can't let that happen again. This is a lesson I'll have to learn from. The consequences that are coming with it, I'm taking full responsibility. No finger pointing. This is all upon me."

"I just want to really apologize to those that are very important to me. I feel like I let my teammates down. These guys mean a lot to me. Not to be able to be out there with them, it hits me in my heart. I have a lot of people that look up to me, a lot of little kids, so once again, I truly apologize. This is not me. I really do apologize for it. Like I said, I take full responsibility and the consequences that come with it."

The action was just another on the list of behavioral issues Smart has been going thru this season. Smart also had an incident where he was upset about a 4-point performance and decided to kick a chair and has also been referred to as a flopper because of some of his recent games.

This may have an effect on his draft stock. He is currently projected as a lottery pick which is a top-10 pick in the NBA Draft, which takes place this June, and some scouting experts around the NBA still believe this incident won't change his draft projection. Not everyone in the NBA believes that with some GM's around the league saying that this will have an ill-effect because most of the things they liked about Smart were his intangibles and with this is considered an intangible, should no doubt effect his stock.

My opinion on the matter is simple, Smart made a not so smart decision. Whether the fan had used a racial slur or not, when you are a student athlete you have to live up to standards that the rest of us do not have to live up to. I believe the fan in this situation was terribly wrong for whatever it was he said and should be punished to the most extreme extent. That was a kid he was saying all these profanity's to and that is uncalled for in any situation.

The fan, Jeff Orr, has had incidents similar to this in past. Current Utah Jazz guard, John Lucas III, has came out to say that even when he was playing in college, 2001-05, Orr would harass him and his teammates when they played against Texas Tech. Former Texas A&M forward Bryan Davis has also said he was harassed by the same fan during his time at A&M during the 2010 season and there is even video of one of those incidents below.

Check it out for yourself -


I believe this fan should no longer be allowed to attend any more college games. This is a 40-year old man who is a season ticket holder for Texas Tech and feels its right to call these kids outside of their name. I don't think Smart should have escalated the situation and is in the wrong for his part, but I do understand how it erupted in the fashion it did.

I hope Smart can learn from this mistake and learn to be the bigger man when situations like this arise. He will still be highly touted once the draft season begins but this could potentially have an ill-effect on the money he could have made.

Smart will still be able to make it back in time for Oklahoma State to make a run in the NCAA Tournament coming up next month and that should have the final say on where he will be drafted.

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12th Man Showed Up Strong For Seahawks Victory Parade

The 12th Man showed up strong with easily over 700,000 to help the Seahawks celebrate their Super Bowl XLVIII with a victory parade.

There were blue and green as far as the eye can see with apartment buildings and business offices hanging 12th Man flags from their windows and rooftops. The streets were crowded, as were the top of buildings along the parade route.

Most fans were arriving around 8-9a.m., that's about 2-3 hours before the parade was even scheduled to begin. Not even the cold temperatures, about 28 degrees, kept the city from showing love for their beloved Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks.

A lot of  younger kids were taken out of school for the day with one person tweeting out, "My sons orchestra class usually has over 50 kids, today there was 3." Seattle's school district allowed each principal to decide whether they would excuse kids for the parade with supposedly 25% of the classes empty throughout the city, including teachers. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially considering our last championship season was after the 1978-79 NBA season when the Seattle SuperSonics won it all, their parade consisted of around 300,000 fans lining the streets that year.

The parade started from the Seattle Space Needle and ended at Century Link Field. The party wasn't over just then, as Century Link was filled with even more fans who filled the stadium well before the parade had even begun. With Century Link meeting their capacity limit early the city opened Safeco Field, the Mariners home field, to allow the overflow of people to watch the presentation of the Seattle Seahawks as Super Bowl champions. I was lucky enough to get a couple tickets for Safeco, although I had to wait online for over 3 hours in order to get them, but they were free so I can't really complain.

The parade was scheduled to begin around 11a.m. but was delayed because of the major traffic issues around the city. Once the parade was  finally set to begin their was another delay because the police had to clear out the roads because people were filling the streets trying to see their Seahawks.

The city had estimated that 250,000 to 500,000 people would attend this event, boy where they wrong, and the Seattle Police Department had to request help from police departments around the area to help with the parade, some coming from as far as Portland.

AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Steve Ringman

The Parade consisted of players riding on team buses, military humvees, and of course the famous Seattle "Ride-The-Ducks" boat/bus that included Marshawn Lynch on the hood throwing skittles to all the fans. Lynch began beating on a native drum handed to him by a fan by the time he had reached Century Link Field.

Once inside Century Link Field, the players had their finger measurements taken for their Super Bowl ring before the presentation. That was followed by the teams entrance to the field. The players were announced individually by their jersey number. Once they got to #4,  kicker Steven Hauschka, they skipped one last player and began introducing the coaching staff. That last player introduced was 2nd year QB Russell Wilson who was introduced last carrying the Lombardi Trophy to the center of the field.

Wilson was met in the middle of the field by Marshawn Lynch, who doused Wilson and the trophy with a bottle of Dom Perignon. The crowd went out of control after seeing two of the city's favorite players celebrate.

Maybe the biggest cheer of the day came when former Seahawk and one of the newest members into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Walter Jones, raised the 12th Man flag to begin the ceremony. Former Seahawk wide receiver and current Seahawk radio broadcaster, Steve Raible, was chosen to start the presentation off.

Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson, and Richard Sherman each got a chance to speak to the crowd. Carroll said in his speech, "We're just getting warmed up, if you know what I'm talking about," which started another rumble you could hear throughout the entire city. Wilson, who spoke of the offense, had a similar opinion saying, "Our plan is to win another one for you next year," and as you would expect the 12th Man exploded into cheer again. Sherman, who spoke on behalf of the defense, also gave high praise to the 12th Man and stated that their defense consists of some of the best at their positions in the entire NFL.

What it all comes down it is Seattle has the best sports fans in the world and if you don't believe it come out here and see for yourself.

Photo by Lindsey Engh

Whether its the 12th Man showing up for a Seahawks Super Bowl Parade or a rally to bring back our Sonics, we show up in full force (So bring a team already Adam Silver).

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Peyton Manning's Legacy After Another Super Bowl Loss

AP Photo/Jack Dempsey

Peyton Manning is a future first ballot Hall of Famer, but what will his legacy be when he hangs up his pads for the last time?

Manning has had the best regular season career the NFL has ever seen, but for some reason when he gets to the post-season he has only been a shadow of himself (overall playoff record of 11-12). You can't deny his influence on the game, but the way he has performed in the playoffs has been nothing short of a disappointment. You could almost write a book full of all the records Manning has broken and will continue to break but the record that matters most (Super Bowl wins) has been the one that has eluded him so often.

The season Manning had this year was the best offensive showing we have ever had the pleasure of watching when he broke the record for most TD's in a season (55) and the most passing yards in a season (5,477). He has won an NFL record 5 MVP's, his 5th coming after his historic performance this year and set himself up to have a chance to keep up with his little brother Eli with Super Bowl wins.

Why is it that when Manning is needed most he falters? Is it his team or does he just not handle the spotlight well?

I don't have the answers to these questions, I just know that when you need Manning most he has a habit of not making the most of those opportunities.

Manning has been one and done in 8 of his 13 playoff appearances with a TD to INT ratio of 37-to-24, his ratio in the regular season, 491-to-219. That means he is throwing an interception 20% more of the time, but man is he good during the regular season.

Manning had the perfect chance to end all the doubters who believe he is not the greatest when he faced the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII. Unfortunately for Manning and the Broncos their high powered offense struggled from beginning to end and seemed to not have the focus needed to pull out a win against the best defense in the league.

When asked after the game if he felt embarrassed about the way the game played out he took it as an insult and why wouldn't he, he felt his team was well prepared for this game and he has pride in that. However, asking if they feel embarrassed is an appropriate question about the game. To only score 8 points when you are the highest scoring offense in NFL history is embarrassing, no knock against the Broncos it just is what it is.

All the credit for the Super Bowl win should go towards the Seahawks and their defense who played lights out against the Broncos. The blame for the loss wasn't all on Manning, some receivers just couldn't keep their hands on the ball when they did catch it and his defense didn't help things out either. Whatever the reason the fall goes on his shoulders and his legacy is the one tarnished from this loss, at least in a national stand point.

Manning will bounce back and have another great season as he always does, but then he will be back in the playoffs and the talk about his legacy will come up once again (that is if he is medically cleared to play another season after his annual neck exam that is part of his contract). It's too bad that such a great quarterback will always have naysayers when it comes to who was the best to ever do it, but rings count and Manning is 1-2 in the biggest game the NFL has to offer.

Manning is a great competitor, leader, and one of the classiest people to ever play in the NFL, but so was Tim Tebow. No comparison to the play on the field if you're thinking I am saying that, but what I mean is that being a great person does not make you a great football player, however it does makes it that much harder to watch them fail. Watching Peyton crumble under the bright lights again makes you feel bad for a guy who has it all, except the one thing he really wanted, another Super Bowl victory.

Peyton Manning will still go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time but because of his post-season flops it will be hard to consider him the greatest ever, even though he should be.

Follow me on Twitter - @therealrikrok89

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Seahawks Defense Shuts Down Broncos Offense in Super Bowl

MATT SLOCUM — AP Photo

Final Score: Seattle 43 Denver 8

They say defense wins championships and the Seattle Seahawks showed off their talent in Super Bowl XLVIII against the much heralded Denver Broncos offense.

From beginning to end it was a disaster for Denver, starting with a safety in the first 12 seconds of the game. That wouldn't be the only instance where the number 12 showed up, one ESPN writer took the leisure of pointing it out for us, Twelfth Night: Number featured in win. 

That safety was set up after Denver's center Manny Ramirez snapped the ball before Peyton Manning was ready. Knowshon Moreno would recover the ball but he was in his own end zone and would get tackled by Cliff Avril for the safety. The cause of that miss communication between Manning and Ramirez, well that would be the 12th Man, who had a heavy presence at MetLife Stadium for the Super Bowl.

Seattle started the second quarter with a 1-yard TD run by Marshawn Lynch. Lynch would finish the day as the second leading rusher with 39 yards on 15 carries (Percy Harvin lead the team in rushing yards gaining 45 yards on only 2 carries). Then the Seahawks really busted the game open with one of the biggest plays of the game when Avril would get his paws on Manning's arm as he was making a throw. The ball spun in the air for what seemed to be an eternity and finally came down into the arms of Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith, who then returned it for a 69-yards TD that gave Seattle a 22-0 lead over the Broncos.

Them Seahawks weren't done just yet. They opened up the second half in spectacular fashion as Harvin, who only played in less than two full games all season, showed why they gave him all that money with an 87-yard kickoff return for a TD.

Jermaine Kearse, the hometown kid, had his own time under the bright lights when he caught a quick pass from Russell Wilson and shredded tacklers with some fancy spin moves, going 23-yards for the score. That score was set up after Byron Maxwell forced a fumble on Demaryius Thomas that was recovered by eventual MVP Smith.

With Seattle up 36-0, the only thing to look forward to was if the Seahawks defense could shut out the best offense in NFL history and it seemed like a good possibility.

Manning ended that thought quick and responded with an 80-yard drive highlighted with a 14-yard TD pass to Demaryius Thomas, by far his most successful drive of the day. Manning was able to get a pass off to Wes Welker for a successful two-point conversion to give them 8 points.

The Seahawks would put the icing on the cake on their first drive of the 4th when Wilson put together a 48-yard drive that was capped off with a 10-yard TD pass to Doug Baldwin, the final points of the game, 43-8.

Seattle won all three phases (Offense, Defense, and Special Teams) of the game in Super Bowl XLVIII and their preparation seemed far above that of Denver. The way that the Seahawks controlled the game was complete domination and an outstanding performance by not only the Legion of Boom but the entire defensive group who forced 4 turnovers (2 Interceptions, 2 fumbles). Malcolm Smith, Kam Chancellor, and Bobby Wagner each racked up 10 tackles, the team as a whole had 84 tackles, 14 more than the Broncos. Seattle made sure that the Broncos felt every hit they laid on them, Chancellor lead the way in that department as he has done all season, and should be considered the hardest hitter in the league.

Denver's defense let what the nation thought was Seattle's weakness to rack up 341 total yards while committing zero turnovers on offense. The game was over early and Seattle even had the opportunity to let their former starter, now backup QB Tavaris Jackson get in on the action; although he only had 1 pass attempt.

He wasn't the only starter to get pulled. Lynch went out late in the 3rd allowing Robert Turbin to finish out the Super Bowl. Although I haven’t seen every Super Bowl, I don’t believe I have ever seen backups get playing time, except for injury replacements.

It was an incredible game if you're a Seattle fan, giving the city their first championship since the Seattle Super Sonics won the NBA title way back in 1979. We needed this title more than the rest of the nation knows, from getting slighted in our first Super Bowl appearance in 2005 thanks to the referee's, to losing our Seattle Sonics back in 2008.

Now stand up 12^th Man, you deserve it and thank you Seahawks for bringing the Lombardi Trophy to its new residence, Seattle, WA!

Follow me on Twitter - @therealrikrok89

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