Sports Blog

Now that the NBA Playoffs are done, it is time for NBA superstars to come together for a better cause, that is Team USA. Over the past few months, NBA teams such as the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Utah Jazz, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the San Antonio Spurs, and more, have been battling it out in amazing games to prove who is the best team in the NBA. Now that the battle is over, players from many of these teams and other teams in the NBA will have to shake hands, train together, and work together to take on the world in Beijing this August.

The Summer Olympics is an event that happens every four years. The most exciting part of the Summer Olympics for me is the basketball tournament. I remember watching the Dream Team of 1992 as they took on the world in basketball. With players like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, and Patrick Ewing, the basketball Dream Team tore apart the competition and won the gold medal. Since then, basketball has become a more wide spread sport making it more difficult for Team USA to win the gold in the recent Olympics.

The NBA has many stars now that are not from the United States. Stars such as Yao Ming and Pau Gasol will play for their native countries during the Olympics while Team USA will feature some of their own team mates. So, how will NBA stars such as Kobe Bryant feel when he has to play along with his opponents in order to defeat his teammate Pau Gasol? Will NBA players be able to make the adjust of turning opponents into teammates and teammates into opponents?

The final 12 man lineup for Team USA that will compete in the 2008 Olympics has recently been announced. The roster features:

• LeBron James
• Tayshaun Prince
• Carlos Boozer
• Carmello Anthony
• Dwight Howard
• Chris Bosh
• Jason Kidd
• Chris Paul
• Deron Williams
• Kobe Bryant
• Michael Redd
• Dwyane Wade

These players all come from different teams, with the exception of Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams which both play for the Utah Jazz. Nearly all of them played in the 2008 NBA Playoffs as well. So, they must now come together as one team with one goal, to win the gold in Beijing. Can they do it? I think that they will do alright, but they are definitely not a team that is comparable to the Dream Team of 1992. I wish them all the best of luck in their journey to China as will be cheering for them every game. Go Team USA! 

Wade Boden is the Artwork Director for Robbins Sports, an online vendor of Basketball Uniforms, Portable Basketball Goals, and Basketballs.

It appears that Boston is the place to be for a die-hard sports fan.  In the past year, the Boston based teams in 3 of Americas top sports, baseball, basketball, and football, have been amazing.  So the question is, what are they putting in the water in Boston?  What do they have that has allowed their teams to have amazing seasons in the past year?  While I do not claim that there is something illegal or set up going on there, it is just amazing to me that Boston has been able to dominate the top sports in America.

The Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox are the professional baseball team of Boston.  They have been around since 1901.  As a new team to the league, they made a huge impact winning the World Series 4 times by 1918.  They then took a downfall for many years struggling to be a decent team.  In 2004, they won their sixth World Series and have been a prominent team since then.  Their games have sold out since early 2003 and they are now something for Boston fans to be very excited about.  In 2007, they won the World Series again and so far in the 2008 season they seem to be doing fairly well again.

The New England Patriots

Led by star quarterback Tom Brady, the New England Patriots had an amazing season for 2007-2008.  They came so close to pulling off the 5th ever perfect season in the NFL by winning all of the regular season games and going on to win the Superbowl.  Unfortunately for their team, they could not hold up against the Giants in the Superbowl.  While many criticize the Patriots for cheating during the first few games of the season, they still were able to pull off a remarkable season after that was all cleared up. 

The Boston Celtics

Since the retirement of Larry Bird in 1992, the Boston Celtics have struggled to have a good team.  In the 2006-2007 season, the Boston Celtics were the worst team in the league.  They had a horrible record.  In 2007-2008, they turned that around completely.  They had the best record of any team in the league and went on to win the NBA playoffs.  While they struggled somewhat through the first few rounds of the playoffs, when it was time to play in the championship series, they held nothing back and were able to knock out the Lakers in game 6. 

While I don’t plan on moving to Boston anytime soon just to have some good sports teams around me, I must admit that I am jealous of the people of Boston.  Here in Utah, we don’t even have a major league football or baseball team.  The Jazz are alright in basketball, but they can’t compare with the Boston Celtics.  So maybe we just need to figure out what is in the water there and send some of it our way so that the Jazz can pump up the for next year. 

 

Wade Boden is the Artwork Director for Robbins Sports, an online vendor of basketball uniforms, baseball uniforms, and football uniforms.

When I was a kid, I always dreamed of being a professional athlete.  Basketball was my passion.  Every day during the summer I went outside behind my garage and shot some hoops.  Some days, it was only for a few minutes, other days it seemed like it was for hours on end.  I played City League Basketball when I was in 6th grade, but then didn’t play in a league again until my freshman year of high school.  I enjoyed playing a lot, but I quickly realized that I didn’t have what it takes to ever be a professional athlete, hence I gave up on my goal.  Now that I am a little older, I have realized some of the mistakes that I made in my goal.  I never really strived to be a better athlete.  Here are a few ideas that I have come up with on how to become a better athlete.

1. First thing is first… PRACTICE!  There is nothing more important that you can be doing to improve your athleticism than to practice.  If your sport is basketball, practice basketball.  Practice alone, practice with others, do drills, etc.  Also, don’t neglect other sports.  How many really good athletes only know how to play one sport?  If you are a basketball player you can benefit from playing many other sports.  Playing soccer will improve your endurance.  Football will help you learn how to be aggressive.  Basketball will improve your hand-eye coordination.  No matter what sport you play, you can benefit from practicing not only that sport, but other sports as well.  Becoming a well-rounded athlete will make you a better basketball player, football player, or whatever your sport may be.
2. Weight Training Weight training is essential to become a better athlete.  Typically football players and wrestlers have no problem with this.  For me, this was one of my weaknesses.  I thought that getting outside and shooting the basketball would make me a great basketball player.  Rather than hitting the gym when I wanted to get better, I just shot some hoops.  I have realized that strength is crucial.  Strength training would have allowed me to have more confidence while I was playing in the post.  Instead, I got man-handled pretty much all the time.  I had no control because I was over-powered by everyone.  Also, because I never really focused on strength training, I always come up just a little short on my jump because I lacked the strength in my legs.  This was a big fall-back for me.  I missed rebounds, I could never dunk, and I couldn’t push off hard enough.
3. Last but not least… Play with people who are better than you.  Being a grown-up now, I can pretty much man-handle any kids in basketball.  But who cares?  That doesn’t help me get better.  When I was young, I never wanted to play against anyone older than me.  I guess it is because I was afraid.  If I had spent more time playing with people who are older and better, I would have had to push myself harder and I think that I would have been a lot better.  I have recently started picking up soccer.  I am probably the worst player in the group that I play with.  I am picked last in every game.  But, my game is improving more than anyone else.  If I had learned this when I was young, I think that I might have been a better athlete.

I love sports.  I enjoy playing any sport.  Among my favorites are basketball, soccer, and football.  While I don’t claim to be extremely good at any of these sports, I look forward to improving.  It’s too bad that I didn’t realize how to be a better athlete when I was younger.  But there is a saying that is heard a lot in sports… never give up.  So I will continue to play and get better.

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Wade Boden is the Artwork Director of Robbins Sports, an online resource for Basketball Uniforms, Soccer Uniforms, and Football Uniforms.

Los Angeles must be a big market.  As I sit here watching Game 6 between the Jazz and the Lakers, it becomes more and more obvious that there are some NBA markets that are favored over others.  [I just watched Kobe Bryant kick Matt Harpring in the side while shooting a fall away.  Foul on Harpring.  Wow!]
The NBA has done an amazing job of keeping secret the communication between the NBA’s marketing executives and the fat, goofy bald guy (Joey Crawford ) and his buddies. [Kobe just ran over a firmly-planted Paul Milsap on his way to the basket.  Block on Milsap.  You’re kidding me!]  I can name at least ten obvious calls in this game alone that would be definite causes for firing any official in a league where objectivity and fairness is the goal. 

Game 5 was worse.  Did anyone notice a travel by Ronnie Brewer on the fast break that would have given the Jazz their first lead in the third quarter?  I didn’t think so.  Apparently the zebra found it.  He must have better eyes than the rest of us.  How about Pau Gasol charging over Matt Harpring while he was imitating a statue?  Oh, all of you saw that?  Not the sucker standing right next to the play.  Apparently he had something else on his mind.

[A valiant Jazz effort just fell short.  I guess a three-point loss isn’t too bad considering that there were 10-15 points given to the Lakers.]

A Foul is a Foul
There’s always talk about player’s having to earn the respect of the officials.  Marquee guys (Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, etc.) aren’t allowed to foul out, nor are defenses allowed to guard them closely.  We wouldn’t want jerseys sales to drop off, right?  That’s a farce.  A foul is a foul.  A no-call should be a no-call, regardless of who the player is, who the team is, or where the game is being played. After Game 5 of this series, Phil Jackson commented that the home team (he should have clarified a bit by referring to his home team) usually can expect a five- to ten-point advantage.  How is that an acceptable status quo in any professional league?

The NBA and the WWF
I remember watching professional wrestling when I was young enough not to know any better.  Even as a five-year-old it was pretty clear that, throughout the slamming, hair-pulling, screaming and everything else, the winner had been chosen beforehand.  It’s taking me a little longer now to understand the the NBA is that way too. 

So is the NBA fixed?  I wouldn’t say that.

The NBA is definitely broken!

Richard Robbins is the VP of Operations for Robbins Sports, a supplier of basketball uniforms, scoreboards, and other sporting goods.

I usually don’t play baseball or softball too much.  However, last weekend, a friend invited me to the park to hit some softballs.  I was extremely bored, so I quickly agreed. 

As a kid I was never really into the sport of baseball.  I thought that the game was too slow and boring.  I was more in to basketball or football, where the ball is moving quickly and there is constantly something going on.  Another thing about baseball that I never liked is that it takes so many people to play a good game.  If you are playing basketball in the playground you can do just fine with 4 people or even 2.  Backyard football can be played just fine with 3 or more people as well.  But coming up with 18 people to play a game of baseball is just way too much.  Well, last weekend I learned a couple of games that can be played with 12 people or less.

A great way to play with 12 people is that you split up in to 4 teams of 3 people.  1 team is up to bat and the other teams share the field.  You play 2 outs instead of three, since your batting team is so small.  Also, if all of your players on are base then you have to take an out to send up a batter. 

Another game that you can play if you have less than 12 people is that you split in to 2 teams.  One team is up to bat.  The batting team doesn’t run the bases since there are not enough players to field.  Instead you just use ghost runners.  The fielding team will cover only the left side of the field.  If the batter hits the ball in the infield and the fielders cover it without errors, it is an out.  If the infielders make an error, it is a single.  If the batter hits a ground ball that makes it to shallow outfield, it is a single.  If the outfielder makes error fielding the ball, it is a double.  Lastly, if the ball makes it to deep outfield, it is a double.  If the deep outfielder errors, then it is a triple. 

I really don’t know what these versions of the game are called, but they were pretty fun to play.  On a warm spring day, it sure was fun to be outside and hitting some softballs, even though it isn’t one of my favorite sports to play.  Either way, it was great to be with friends and also to make new friend on the field.  I look forward to playing some more and maybe one day, I will enjoy and appreciate the “All-American” sport a little more than I do now.

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Wade Boden is the Director of Artwork at Robbins Sports, an online resource for Baseball Uniforms, School Bleachers, and Catchers Equipment.

During a basketball game, free-throws are extremely important to a teams success.  These crucial shots can be the difference between winning and losing a game.  Free-throws are shot as a result of a technical or flagrant foul, a foul while in the process of shooting, or any foul after the opposing team has exceeded the foul limit.  Since these shots are so common and important, everyone from beginners to pros should spend plenty of time working on their free-throws.  The following is a list of ways to improve your free-throw percentage:

1. Practice, Practice, Practice! Shooting free-throws is a great way to warm up for a practice.  Also, since it does not take a lot of energy, it is a practice routine that one can do for a long time without getting tired.  I would suggest spending about 30 minutes a day working on free-throw for a serious basketball player.
2. Start with a good Base When facing up to shoot a free-throw, many beginners make the mistake of lining up exactly in the middle of the free-throw.  Instead one should line up their dominant foot(right if shooting right-handed) with the center of the court.  Your feet should be about shoulder width apart and facing straight(no pidgin toes).  Your leading foot should be directly behind the free-throw line and your other foot should be a few inches back from the line.
3. Get a Good Handle on the Ball First, position your arm so that your shooting elbow is directly above your foot.  Your elbow is bent at a 90 degree angle.  Your wrist is parallel to you bicep and the ball sits on the fingers of your hand.  Your non-dominant hand is placed on the side of the ball and acts only to guide the ball.  Your should not use this hand to generate power to move the ball. 
4. Perform with Style  The act of shooting the basketball becomes an art.  Crouch down as you will use strength from your legs to generate a forward flow of your body.  As you begin to move upward from your crouch, your forearm should move upward as well.  As you approach the max height, your will begin to move your wrist forward.  Right as you reach the top of your upward acceleration, you quickly flick the wrist forward and let the ball slide off of your hand.  You should end with your shooting hand still above your front foot and your middle finger in line with the rim.
5. Concentrate Concentration is key when facing the challenge of the free-throw.  Use a routine that will help you relax and stay focused.  This could be to dribble the ball two times or three times before taking your shot.  Maybe, your routine is to not dribble the ball at all.  Do whatever works and makes you feel comfortable.  You get 10 seconds to take your shot so you have plenty of time.  Don’t rush your free-throw.  NBA star Tim Duncan is one of the most delayed free-throw shooters that I have ever seen, so don’t feel like taking time to concentrate and hit your free-throws means that you are not a good player.
6. See the Vision Have a positive mentality when shooting free-throw.  Be confident that you can make the shot.  Keep your eye on the back of the rim as that is where you want the ball to go.  Image the ball leaving your hand, floating through the air, and falling straight through the net.

Remember the good old saying, “Practice makes perfect”.  While you while never be a 100% free-throw shooter, practice will definitely increase your performance.  Hitting every free-throw is probably impossible, so just set your goal to have a better free-throw percentage than the day before.  Some time you will make it, some time you won’t.  That’s okay because overall, your free-throw percentage will improve and maybe one day you will be hitting the free-throw that adds the icing on the cake in an important game.

 

Wade Boden is the Artwork Director of Robbins Sports, an online vendor of Basketball Uniforms, Gym Bags, and Residential Basketball Goals.

The regular season is over for the NBA and that means the votes for MVP are already in.  The race for MVP this year has definately been a close one.  With names like Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Kevin Garnett, and LeBron James all floating around, it is hard to tell who will pull it out.  In my opinion, it looks like the race will come down to the Western Conference superstars Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant has been a key player in the NBA for many years and is yet to claim his MVP award.  I hope that this year he will continue his streak.  The reason that I don’t want Kobe to win is because, even though he is a valuable player, he is somewhat of a cry-baby.  A couple of years ago, Kobe ran Shaq out of Los Angeles because he wanted to be the superstar.  Then earlier this year, he had basically given up on the Lakers and was at the point of demanding a trade because there was no one else good on the team.  That is until Pau Gasol made his way over to Los Angeles and Kobe decided that he could give the Lakers another shot. 

This is not the attitude that an MVP should have.  A MVP doesn’t give up and look for a way out so that they can have it better.  The MVP plays hard no matter what and makes a difference on any team.  That is why my vote goes for Chris Paul.

The Hornet’s by far do not have the best team in the league.  However, the young point guard Chris Paul is able to drive the team even though he has only a few years of NBA experience.  He is a master of the point guard position.  He is quick, smart, and improves the overall quality of his teammates.  He is an amazing offensive player.  He pulls double coverage to him and is still able to get anywhere on the court that he wants.  He averages 21.1 points per game and 11.6 assists.  He is also a great defender.  He is quick so he can get in and make some steals.  He also has amazing style as he covers the post.  He plays like a MVP and has the attitude of the MVP.

That is the difference between Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul.  Kobe doesn’t like it when he doesn’t get his way, even though he not sure what his way is.  Whereas, Chris Paul make it his way.  Chris Paul all the way for MVP.

 

Wade Boden is the Artwork Director of Robbins Sports, an online resource of Basketball Uniforms, Basketball Standards, and Scoreboards.

It is finally warming up and we are ready to get out and play.  The big game that I am looking forward to this Spring is soccer.  Soccer is not a very popular sport in the United States, however, its popularity is rapidly increasing.  On the worldwide aspect, it is probably the most played sport.

Getting out after a cold winter can be hard.  One must begin to condition and train after months of avoiding the outdoors due to the bitter cold.  For soccer, which is perhaps the most demanding sport of any, training in essential before going in to the games.  This is because players are expected to play for 45 minutes periods without breaks.  During these 45 minutes, they must walk, jog, run, and sprint.  For this reason, endurance and fitness training is the most important aspect of training for a soccer player.

The second area to focus in training for the soccer season is the train technical skills.  Juggling is a great training technique for ball control.  This will allows players to train their ball controll skills, increase balance and agility, and train muscles that are used specifically for soccer.  Another important training technique is to practice dribbling the ball.  You should learn how to move quickly without loosing control of the ball.  The last technique that I would mention is to practice shooting the ball.  Learn how to kick under control and with power.  This will be very important when it comes game time and you have the open shot.

The last area of training is mental training.  Have a positive attitude.  Don’t get frustrated.  Make yourself feel like you are a great soccer player.  Have a solid understanding of the game.  Think ahead of time how you will react in certain situations that you might encounter on the field.  Learn how others play and be able to react to their styles to improve everyone as a whole. 

 

Wade Boden is the Artwork Director of Robbins Sports, an online resource for Portable Soccer Goals, Soccer Uniforms, and Gym Bags.

 

With the 2007-2008 basketball season coming to an end, there is still a close race in the Western Conference to see who will make it to the playoffs and who will be left behind.  While New Orleans and the Los Angeles Lakers are the only teams that have clinched playoff berth, there is really only a struggle for the last two sports of the conference.  The battle that is going on is between Dallas, Golden State, and Denver.  Each of these teams is amazing and deserves to go to the playoffs.  However, one of them will have to be eliminated.

Being a Nuggets fan, I have been following this fight for the past couple of months to see if my team will be able to make it to the playoffs again.  In the past week, I have seen them bounce from position 9 to 7 and now to 8.  I have seen all three of these teams with even records and then bouncing around again.  However, it seems like it usually turns out that Dallas sits in position number 7 while Denver and Golden State switch for position number 9.

Last week, I saw a huge glimpse of hope as Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki suffered an ankle injury.  However, in the struggle for playoff berth, he has decided to suffer through the pain and play in order to help the Mavs get into the playoffs rather than waiting for a full recovery.  It seems like this was a good move since it is helped to bump the Mavs back up to position number 7 with a half game lead over Denver. 

These next few weeks will be exciting for everyone who follow the Nuggets, the Warriors, and the Mavs.  The regular season ends April 16, which is just two and a half weeks away.  On April 10, the Nuggets will face off against Golden State, which I believe will be a key game in the playoff picture.  There will probably be many other key games, but it is hard to tell.  It is definite though that these next two weeks will be interesting.

 

Wade Boden is the Artwork Director of Robbins Sports, an online provider of Basketball Uniforms, Basketball Standards, and Portable Scoreboards.

Here at Robbins Sports, we have been speculating as to who will be the eventual champion this year. Well, here is the way I see it going down:

East:

(1) North Carolina
                    UNC
(16) St. Mary’s
                                    UNC       
(8) Indiana
                    Indiana
(9)Arkansas                                          UNC

(5)Notre Dame
                    Notre Dame
(12)George Mason
                                    Notre Dame
(4)Washington St.
                    Wash St.
(13)Winthrop                                                                       East Winner: 
                                                                                                UNC
(6)Oklahoma
                    Oklahoma
(11)St. Joe’s
                                    Lousiville
(3)Louisville
                    Louisville
(14)Boise State

(7)Butler                                               Tennessee
                    Butler
(10)South Alabama
                                    Tennessee
(2)Tennessee
                    Tennessee                       
(15)American

 

Midwest:

(1)Kansas
                    Kansas
(16)Portland St.
                                    Kansas
(8)UNLV
                    Kent 
(9)Kent
                                                           Kansas
(5)Clemson
                    Clemson
(12)Villanova
                                    Clemson
(4)Vanderbilt
                    Vanderbilt
(13)Siena                                                                            Midwest Winner:
                                                                                                Kansas
(6)USC
                    Kansas St.
(11)Kansas St.
                                    Wisconsin
(3)Wisconsin
                    Wisconsin
(14)Cal St. Fullerton
                                                           Wisconsin
(7)Gonzaga                              
                    Davidson
(10)Davidson
                                    Georgetown
(2)Georgetown
                    Georgetown
(15)UMBC

 

West:

(1)UCLA
                    UCLA
(16)Miss Vly St.
                                    UCLA
(8)BYU
                    Texas AM
(9)Texas AM
                                                           UCLA
(5)Drake
                    Drake
(12)W. Kentucky
                                    UConn
(4)UConn                   
                    UConn
(13)San Diego

(6)Purdue                                                                            West Winner: 
                    Purdue                                                                  UCLA
(11)Baylor
                                    Georgia
(3)Xavier
                    Georgia
(14)Georgia
                                                           Duke
(7)West Virginia
                    Arizona
(10)Arizona
                                    Duke
(2)Duke
                    Duke
(15)Belmont

 

South:

(1)Memphis
                    Memphis
(16)Texas-Ar.
                                    Memphis
(8)Miss. St.
                    Oregon
(9)Oregon
                                                           Pittsburg
(5)Michigan St.
                    Michigan St.
(12)Temple
                                    Pittsburg
(4)Pittsburgh
                    Pittsburgh
(13)Oral Roberts

(6)Marquette                                                                             South Winner:
                    Kentucky                                                                  Stanford
(11)Kentucky
                                    Stanford
(3)Stanford
                    Stanford
(14)Cornell
                                                           Stanford
(7)Miami
                    Miami
(10)St. Mary’s
                                    Texas
(2)Texas
                    Texas
(15)Austin Peay

 

Final Four:

(1)Kansas
                    Kansas
(1)UNC

                                    Champion: Kansas

(1)UCLA
                    UCLA
(3)Stanford