AGRI Biz

It came as no surprise that Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James won his second straight MVP award. James was clearly the best player on the league's best team. But that is not the story. Those who voted for the annual award symbolically told us that Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is the fourth best player in the NBA. That's right, the Black Mamba does not even get a Bronze. Sure, Bryant finished third ...

"The Summer of LeBron" kicks off just 60 days from now, on July 1st, when NBA teams are allowed to start contract negotiations with free-agent players. The depth and quality of the 2010 star-studded free-agent class is well known and has dominated discussion in the basketball world for the past eight months. Will LeBron James stay in Cleveland? Will Chris Bosh join Dwayne Wade in Miami? Will Dirk Nowitzki walk ...

I once had the misfortune of playing in a high school football game in which my team was stomped 44-0. During the joint team postgame meal, I had the honor of sitting next to the opposing coach. Being an inquisitive young man, I asked the coach as to why, once his team had achieved a rather large and obviously insurmountable lead, he hadn't called off the dogs. The coach glared at me...not ...

Despite living in Baltimore, I’m a big LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers fan. My wife and I decided to splurge and get tickets for game one on Saturday between the Cavs and the Celtics so I figured I’d share my thoughts and observations with the B/R community. Cleveland is a very easy city to drive right in to the downtown area. Parts of the city do look a little derelict, but there’s ...

A long time ago, a wet-behind-the-ear coach by the name of Jerry Sloan resigned from his coaching position at the University of Evansville. He never had a chance to run a single practice or cuss out a single player. And thank goodness he resigned—because that decision may have saved Sloan's life. Months later, tragedy would strike the Evansville basketball program. The team's charter flight crashed in the fog, at the ...

Now that the Hawks closed the doors on the Bucks’ NBA championship dreams, only eight teams remain in the race to the NBA championship. All the East’s expected contenders escaped their first-round playoff opponents without much difficulty (well, besides the aforementioned Hawks), and set the stage for a glorious second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Wild Wild West, on the other hand, waved goodbye to two presumed contenders in the ...

A deep NBA draft field is highlighted by three Kentucky Wildcats; John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson. Many believe all three may go in the top ten of the draft. I think all three will go in the top five. Five Wildcats in all will go in the first round. The draft is June 24th, and it's time for my first mock draft. There are a few surprises here, but ...

A resounding Game Seven win by the Atlanta Hawks to move on to the second round and a gutty late push by the Los Angeles Lakers to take Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals capped a thrilling Sunday in the NBA playoffs. The action moves to Cleveland for Game Two of the Eastern Conference semifinals at 8 p.m. Monday, followed by Game One of the other Western Conference semi ...

With the Atlanta Hawks’ victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, the semifinals of the NBA playoffs are officially set. Here’s the lowdown on what I think each team needs to do in their series to advance onwards. Eastern Conference Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics Game One of this series was completed on Saturday, as the Cavs beat Boston to take a 1-0 series lead. Cleveland’s ...

The Oklahoma City Thunder gave a valiant effort in their first round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, and their performance has some wondering where the young Thunder rank amongst the NBA's greatest No. 8 seeds. Don't rack your brain too much. While the Thunder may have inspired some to include them among the ranks of the league's greatest underdogs; it simply doesn't hold up under any amount of scrutiny. To be ...