Editorial Josh Gordon Cleveland Browns Wide Receiver

Week 12 is a bright spot for a resurgent Cleveland Browns, who are trying to make a playoff push for the first time in over a decade. With the return of speedster Josh Gordon, who is undoubtedly one of the best  wide receivers in the league, and now leaves the Browns offense at 100% with Brian Hoyer under helm. Gordon hasn't been allowed to participate under the collective bargaining agreement regarding the suspension for his failed drug test, but he was allowed to attend team meetings. I believe the league has overplayed the situation the whole year, and Gordon should've had his suspension reduced to only 4 games, instead of 10 games. Originally, he was handed down an indefinite suspension for the whole 2014 season, although an appeal helped the suspension get reduced. If you reflect on all suspensions handed down this season, this one should have been a minor one, compared to the assault cases of Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice and Ray McDonald.
       If you look into the NFL guidelines regarding possession of drugs, it states under the new rules, that a repeated offense of 4 times, immediately results in a 10 game suspension, rather than the entire season. The rules were proposed in September, after many players argued that the suspension handed down for first time offenders were simply too much. This goes for all types of drugs, which should be reviewed again. Back in 2012, the NFL  pursued the Richard Sherman case claiming he was taking performance enhancing drugs, and the punishment would have been to equivalent to a regular possession case. In my opinion, the consequences should be more severe than Gordon's standard marijuana case in the offseason, and the NFL needs to reconsider their policies regarding drugs and alcohol charges. With more severe drug penalties before they were updated, the NFL was sending the wrong message and jeopardizing many athlete's careers.
     The NFL could use the other major sports as a model when punishing players with possession of drugs and alcohol. The MLB has stricter rules when it comes to drug usage, and monitor players very closely, by drug testing players numerously in a short period of time. For a while, MLB has evolved from a steroid era, in which heavy hitters tacked on a ton of home runs, and accumulated exuberant amounts of money. Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire were the poster children during this era, and are ranked within the all time top 10 in home runs. They cheated, and were punished for it, and Major League Baseball sent a message stating that cheating would not be permitted. The NHL is completely different and only require players to take 2 drug tests per year, including one before the playoffs.The punishment that comes after one failed drug test is an immediate suspension without pay, and two failed drug tests results in a 60 game suspension without pay.
   With the return of Josh Gordon, the Browns put themselves as a major contender in the AFC playoff push, that features many strong contenders that have struggled the past few weeks. This puts the Browns as a potential favorite to claim a playoff spot, because they offense can now spread out teams defenses and open up running lanes for Isaiah Crowell and Terrence West. Gordon is coming off a season in which he led the league in receiving yards with 1,646 yards and 9 touchdowns. He averaged nearly 118  receiving yards per game.

Stanton Signs Largest Contract For Any Major U.S. Athlete

This week, Giancarlo Stanton signed the biggest contract ever for any major athlete, with a 13 year $325 contract extension, that locks up the young phenom for the unforeseeable future. He is guaranteed at least 6 years, and has an option to leave the team if for some reason, he decides to. Stanton is coming off a season where he came in 2nd place in the MVP voting, after hitting 37 home runs last season.  He also had a .555 slugging percentage, and displayed power that has not been seen from a younger generation player since Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera. What stands out about this deal is the fact that the total payroll for the Miami Marlins was $47.6 million dollars, which ranked 2nd worst in the majors, and then pay Stanton nearly half of their total payroll. That leaves half of the money to fill the roster, adjust lineup weaknesses, and resign other young free agents your team needs to win games.
Giancarlo no doubt displayed stardom in his first few seasons in the MLB, but to be given the highest paid American contract ever, that's hard to believe. He makes more money than other stars who played way better last season, and won more significant awards compared to Stanton. Clayton Kershaw has won back to back NL CY Young Awards and made it to the playoffs many times, has yet to see a contract even close to Stanton's because he allowed the franchise to have more flexibility to sign other above quality guys that can help the team win the World Series. Mike Trout, known for his all around play, is currently playing on a rookie contract. He has yet to see any big time money, even though he is now the face of the MLB, and has led players in nearly every statistical category.

Class of 2015 College Basketball Recruits

This week, Kentucky established themselves as clear cut favorites to be awarded top recruiting class for the second straight year. In a span of 1 hour, the Wildcats received commitments from star guard Isaiah Briscoe and Skal Labbissiere. Both are 5 star recruits, and two of the best players in the country. Labissiere is a 6'10 power forward, who is described as a skinnier Anthony Davis, going into his freshman year of college.  Briscoe is a New Jersey native, coming out of Roselle High School, and was on the NJ Playaz AAU team that won the Peach Jam Championship last summer. Both are within the top 15 players in the country, and join Charles Matthews in the list of recruits for Kentucky this season.  It is also possible that Kentucky gets another elite player as several names are still considering going to their school. These names include Jaylon Brown who is ranked 2nd in the country, Malik Newman, Ivan Rabb, Cheick Diablo, Caleb Swanigan, Stephen Zimmerman, Brandon Ingram, Antonio Blakenay and Carlton Bragg.  

UMass' Gordon Becomes First Openly Gay D1 Athlete

Last night, Derrick Gordon, student athlete from the University of Massachusetts, became the first openly gay athlete to play in a collegiate game. He scored 17 points in his first game against Siena, as he got to start the game. The Plainfield, New Jersey native talked about how his relationship with his teammates improved, despite openly admitting that he was gay.

"I'm just so happy and excited to finally put this out there," Gordon said at the time. "I've lived my life hiding behind somebody who I wasn't. I wasn't really that close to anybody on this team because there was something I had to hide."

The tolerance level compared to what it was before is significantly different. Based on what took place with Michael Sam a few months ago, when he was not picked until the 8th round of the NFL Draft. Many based his placement in the draft as an anti-gay protest by the NFL teams, but it turns out that it was based on his skill set on the field and nothing to do with anything off the field. Sam has yet to play a snap in the NFL, as he has bounced around numerous practice squads before being cut by the Dallas Cowboys several weeks ago.

Gordon contributed to the team significantly in the season opener. He nearly had a double-double in his first game, as he finished the game with 17 points and pulled down 9 rebounds. He also made 11/12 free throws in the game, that helped end the game against Siena. The tolerance is so much better for gay athletes, and the NCAA is setting an example to other leagues that being gay is okay. They don't ridicule athletes like other leagues, but embrace them. What Massachusetts did last night sent a message to other colleges that no matter what you believe in, you are still given a chance to do big things.

Peterson/Rice

Pending a ruling by the NFL and Rodger Goodell, Ray Rice may be able to return to the NFL at the very least, next season. Although that is very unlikely, because no team would want to sign him, especially how brutally he hit his wife in the Atlantic City casino in February. He appealed to the NFL saying that the NFL punishment was "too harsh." The solution by the court could be to sign Rice to a team, and let him sit out the rest of the season, including playoffs. However, I believe the signing of Rice would bring chaos to the whole fan base not just in Baltimore but around the country. Human rights activists would be against Ray Rice signing back with the team after abusing his wife, however, it was mentioned that it was not as severe as other cases that played out throughout the season with Adrian Peterson and Ray McDonald, who brutalized their victims for more time than Rice had done in the few moments he was in the elevator, and when he dragged his wife out. The possibility of Ray Rice returning to the NFL is also highly unlikely because he was cut shortly after the TMZ video was released, and has well below average numbers compared to Adrian Peterson. Adrian Peterson would be eligible to return to the Minnesota Vikings because he was not released by the team, and is the teams best player, so they almost had to keep him under salary. His punishment for his crime was far less significant compared to Rice, and he was ruled guilty for 4 counts of a misdemeanor. Even if you look at both cases together, both players deserve to be given a second chance, because if you look at what Ben Roethlisberger did back in 2010, when he was accused of sexually assaulted a 20 year old girl and was only suspended for 6 games. It was reduced however, because the evidence was insufficient. His crime was much worse than Rice's and Peterson's, but he was only suspended for 4 games, while both Peterson and Rice have been out for 10+ weeks, and probably for the rest of the 2014 season. As for the NFL, every day, their standards are always evolving, and are never consistent. They rely too heavily on past cases, and fail to recognize what punishments are appropriate.

Feature Story Kyle Lowry

The 2014 NBA season has brought nothing but success for star point guard Kyle Lowry. He  proved he is capable of making an NBA all star team, but was cut from the team as a finalist  the past 2 years. So this year, Lowry is making an early case as to why he deserves the honor, because he has elevated his game to ground breaking numbers. He emerged last year into a star point guard, and the Toronto Raptors were able to make the playoffs behind Lowry's breakout season. Not only has Kyle Lowry made an impact on the court but he has also made an impact off the court as well. Starting last season, Lowry created his own non profitable organization named Lowry Love Foundation, that is targeted to help underprivileged  kids in the Philadelphia area by giving back to the community. His foundation also helps Toronto children as well,not just the area he grew up in.
     Growing up, Lowry had to battle through hardships and doubt to even get a chance in the NBA. After being raised in North Philadelphia, Lowry jump started his journey at Cardinal Dougherty high school. As a freshman, Lowry came into high school under 6ft tall, but provided scrappiness and provided points for his high school team. The highlight of his high school career came in 2004, when he averaged 19 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals as a senior, and was named Pennsylvania High School Player of the Year.
     Coming out of high school however, Lowry was tagged with a "hot head" reputation, because many coaches thought Kyle lacked the maturity to lead a team.

      "He was a handful, boy," Wright said. "Everything he did on the court was about being small and not backing down to anybody and being tougher than everybody. You loved that about him. But off the court, he did the same thing with authority. He never wanted people around him to see that someone was going to tell him what to do. And in his mind, it was kind of cowering if you gave in to that."

He lacked command off the court as well. Many times, his personality got him into trouble, but Villanova wanted to take a chance on Lowry, and had no idea what path Kyle Lowry was going to follow. The path for any athlete is either pass into the NBA or fail. He approached the game differently, but his consistent work ethic helped his chances of getting drafted into the NBA. In just 2 short years, Lowry was drafted by the Memphis Grizzles in the first round, after leaving the Villanova Wildcats with 543 career points, 219 rebounds and 171 total assists. He was also named to the Big East Second Team All Conference, Big East Honor Roll, First Team All Big 5, Big All-Rookie Team and Philadelphia Big 5 Rookie of the Year. 
     Lowry was traded from Memphis to the Houston Rockets, where he played off the bench, with occasional minutes in the starting lineup. In his last season with the rockets, Lowry averaged 14 points per game, 6.6 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game. It wasn't until Lowry was traded to Toronto that his career took off. Lowry last season improved his averages, and developed himself into a leader, and lead a young Toronto team to the playoffs. He managed to put up career numbers, which led to a major contract extension in the off season.  Last season, he averaged 17.9 points per game, 7.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. Between him and Demar Derozan, both combined to average over 30 points per game. They are one of the most underated duo back court in the NBA, but this season, they used it as motivation. Both players led the Raptors to a franchise record start, and are poised to return to the playoffs once again.
     As for Lowry he learned from his past teammates to guide his potential and shape out his NBA future. He valued his coaches and former teammates, and now sees all the advice payoff. The one person Lowry looked upon for advice was from former NBA stud, Chauncey Billups.

     “Chauncey pushed me,” Lowry said. “He pushed me mentally to challenge myself. He just has this aura about him like you don’t want to upset him. You want to make sure he’s like, ‘Good job.’ There are some people in this world that you just be like, ‘Man, just give me some praise.’ And the little bit of praise, the sky’s the limit for that. There’s not many people I say I look up to. I don’t look up to people like that. [But] I look up to him.”

     

Oscar Taveras

Following the death of MLB player and former outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, an investigation was conducted to determine if Oscar Taveras was intoxicated prior to be killed in the car accident. The results were released today, and show that Taveras was in fact intoxicated and had a blood alcohol content 5 times greater the legal state limit. He was killed along with his girlfriend on the highway of Puerta Plata on Oct. 26 after he lost control of the car after exceeding the speed limit.
     Taveras left behind a bright future because of one bad mistake. According to MLB.com, he was ranked a top 3 MLB recruit at an age of only 22 years old. He was signed by the Cardinals back in 2008, in the first year player draft. However, he was brought up this past season to play right field for the Cardinals, and made his first career playoff start in the National League Division series. This season, Tavares hit .239 with 3 homeruns and 22 runs batted in which was accumulated in 80 games. He is best known for his  heroics in game 2 of the NL Championship series, when he hit a homerun in the 7th inning against the Giants.
   

Week 10 Storylines

Week 10 has brought many shorelines to an already historic 2014 NFL season. It is the make or break for many teams trying to make it into the playoffs, and is also a week when teams when negligent records can make a run in the NFL draft to get big name college athletes.
     The most significant headline this week came in a rout against the rival Chicago Bears. It was pass-fest for Aaron Rodgers, who threw 6 touchdown passes in the first half against a torrid Bears offense, who has given up more than 30.1 points per game and over 380 yards to opponents this season. Jordy Nelson was the benefactor from this game, as he caught for over 150 yards and 2 TD's this week. Through 9 games, Nelson has 889 yards receiving and 8 touchdowns. Rodgers' historic performance comes just one week after Big Ben did the same feat 2 weeks in a row.
      For the Seahawks, their whole season was criticized following a super bowl win last season. Many believed they could repeat their performance, but lockerroom turmoil and sub par performances on the field has prevent the team from winning key games. The Seahawks already traded Percy Harvin to the Jets earlier in the year, and there are currently talks of trading or even cutting Marshawn Lynch. However, Lynch solidified his case by rushing for 140 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. The Giants defense was no match for the powerful Seahawk ground attack, and were no match.
    Following a historic performance last week, Big Ben was completely dominated by the Jets defense, turning the ball over, and was limited to just 1 touchdown pass to Martavis Bryant. With the touchdown catch, Bryant is the first rookie since 1960 to have 66 fantasy points in a 4 week span.  As for the Jets defense coming into the game, opposing QB's had 24 passing touchdowns and only 1 pick this season.
     The Arizona Cardinals came into sunday atop the AFC West division with a 7-1 record, and were victorious again, but at a high cost. 2 days after signing Carson Palmer to a $50 million extension, the Cardinals watch as their QB went down with a torn ACL. This is Carson Palmer's second torn ACL in his career and both were on the same knee. Now the Cardinals will have to play with a backup quarterback in Drew Stanton, who already made an appearance this season after Palmer was down with a shoulder injury.




   

Spotify

Shortly after releasing her hit album 1989, Taylor Swift decided to pull her album off Spotify. I am not surprised by the move, because Taylor is trying to accumulate the most amount of money possible and she can't do that if her music can stream freely on music providers that don't charge listeners for service. What's surprising is the amount of revenue she has made off of her albums, which is well into the millions after winning a platinum award.
      Her album 1989, had 1.3 million copies sold in one week, which is more than Eminem had back in 2002, which featured songs like curtain call and not so slim shady that changed the whole rap industry for music.
    The real debate is if streaming should be free to listeners of big name radio providers, and other streaming sites such as YouTube because it allows new musicians the opportunity to gain new followers, and promote songs through fans. In other words, they benefit from viewers because they have the ability to try their own music and hopefully get discovered by big name music labels. It happens all the time in the music industry, people called Youtubers, have their songs heard in videos, inspire the world and then get signed by a big name record label. I believe it's the easiest way to help develop new performers, and if there is a charge to stream, than new musicians would never be found.
    However, I can also make the case for monthly memberships. If I were to purchase a membership to spotify, I'd have the ability to access millions of songs at my fingertips. It be the perfect solution, although the musicians would disagree.

Kentucky Wildcats College Basketball Outlook

This week, the AP Top 25 preseason rankings were released prior to the upcoming season starting in the near future. The season looks bright for the Wildcats, who last season, saw their chances of winning an NCAA championship slip away from their finger tips. Their defeat against the University of Connecticut, raised many questions regarding the future of the program and how good they would be without key players that left the team to join the NBA. Key players that departed include Julius Randle and James Young. Both contributed significantly to the Wildcat offense last season. This season however, Kentucky is ranked number 1 in the preseason rankings after retaining 9 McDonald's All Americans. The return of the Harrison twins and the size that returned allows Kentucky the ability to dominate in the upcoming season.

Incoming freshman Karl Towns Jr. is one of the top Centers in the country, coming out of South Jersey from St. Joe's Metuchen, provides a strong inside presence that can block out other opposing big men. He can score inside from the paint, but can also spread the floor and shoot the three point shot. He will help the Harrison twins and Dakari Johnson a ton, and could thrive in a Kentucky offense that focuses primary in the paint. Other notable big men that played in John Calipari's offense include all star center, Anthony Davis, who led the Wildcats to an NCAA championship before he left for the NBA. Other notable recruits include Trey Lyles, the number 8th top ranked PF in the country, but could be coming off of the bench in a platoon offense in an effort to get top players equal minutes. Tyler Ulis provides ball handling as well as a defensive presence at the point guard position, and a supplementary backup off the bench for the Wildcats this season.

The biggest difficulty for the WIldcats this season would be based upon how John Calipari utilizes his team. He is attempting to become the first coach in Division 1 to incorporate a platoon system, and the other known coaches to do this is in Division 3. The Wildcats are geared for another March Madness run, and with returning stars and a top recruitment class, they proved they have the potential to do so again.

What's your party?

With election day taking place tomorrow, it is important time to support a stance on gun control, as well as immigration. First off, I support stricter gun laws, because history shows that guns must be taken off the streets. They are abused by citizens who use them, although, this is due to mental illness or past traumatizing experiences.  Illegal immigration is also a highly talked about situation, as every day many people attempt to cross the border of the United States, and get punished for getting in illegally. I believe immigration should take place, even though they wouldn't be punished for claiming citizenship. On a political standpoint, I would be more of a Republican, because I support these situations compared to a Democrat that goes against it. 
       I believe that immigration should be allowed because I look at the positive that could come out of it. If many are granted citizenship, more job opportunities could be filled at a lower wage in certain jobs, and many companies wouldn't have to look very far to fill a job position. Not only will jobs get filled, but you also have to look at the humane act that follows. If you reject an immigrant trying to enter illegally, and either kill or place in prison, they are rejected an opportunity to live life and forced to sit in a prison their whole life. If they are sent back however, they run the risk of being killed due to violence and other actions that occur in their home country.
      Gun laws should be stricter in the United States, because innocent bystanders are killed every single day after being gun down. Their shooters typically have one form of mental illness and have a need to kill. But the government won't act upon guns. They say that keep guns on the street is okay for many citizens because their main purpose is for hunting or protection, but in many ways they are used to kill. Now, we are in an age where children shoot other children. Just use last week as an example. At the shooting in Seattle, the boy, who was a freshman in high school,  stole his parents gun after finding it laying around the house, and not locked up somewhere safe. So why doesn't the government act and just say no to guns? By removing guns with more back ground checks and other checks in place as well, it would reduce the amount of crimes and save innocent lives.