Sports Carnival Ecstasy - October 17, 2013

English: Baylor quarterback, Robert Griffin III, signing autographs at the 2009 Meet the Bears scrimmage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Welcome to the October 17, 2013 edition of Sports Carnival Ecstasy. In this edition we start with a look at the Miami Heat in addition to the Washington Redskins. Ohio football is pretty welled covered from the Browns to the Buckeyes. And we wrap up with an article about Louisville and one on Illinois. Hope you enjoy all the articles, share, and come back soon.

basketball

Sharon Harvey Rosenberg presents HEAT Champs Reveal Doctor’s Advice to Them posted at Health, Life & Community | Baptist Health South Florida, saying, "By Bethany Rundell: Miami HEAT champions Udonis Haslem and Shane Battier sat down to give some insight into how the stay healthy during the season."

football

Bill Smith presents What is wrong with the Redskins? posted at FryingPan Sports, saying, "The Skins won the NFC East last season but this year the team is 0-3. The questions have centered on the comeback of QB Robert Griffin III but that is only part of the real answer."

Bill Smith presents Ohio State Football Set For Conference Clash Against Wisconsin posted at BrutusReport, saying, "Following a 76 point win over Florida A&M, the Ohio State football program must turn its attention to conference rival Wisconsin."

Bill Smith presents What is wrong with the San Francisco 49ers? posted at FryingPan Sports, saying, "As everyone that listens to the Internet audio version of News, Notes & Rumors knows, I am a big fan of Colin Kaepernick. He has clearly not regressed. So what exactly is wrong with the 1-2 49ers?"

Bill Smith presents Browns/Vikings live game notes. posted at FryingPan Sports, saying, "Is Hoyer the long term answer at QB? Probably not but he showed enough to warrant another start. If he plays as well against the Bengals, he should continue to start whether Weeden is healthy or not. The Browns will still be looking for a college QB in the 2014 NFL draft."

Bill Smith presents The Ohio State Buckeyes Beat FAMU By 76 posted at BrutusReport, saying, "As anyone might have predicted, the Ohio State Buckeyes dismantled the outmatched Florida A&M University Rattlers 76-0. Backup QB Kenny Guiton set a new school record with 6 touchdown passes."

Bill Smith presents Browns/Bengals live game notes week 4 posted at FryingPan Sports, saying, "Don’t look now but the Browns are tied for the lead in the AFC North behind only the Ravens but in front of the Bengals all of which are 2-2."

Bill Smith presents Derrick Nnadi Considers His Future posted at eFilmRoom, saying, "Undoubtedly, over the coming months, one name to watch out for is class of 2014 defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi."

Bill Smith presents Where Will Derrick Nnadi Land posted at eScoutRoom, saying, "Ever since 2 time National champ winning coach Urban Meyer landed on the campus in Columbus, Ohio, his recruiting efforts have been quite fruitful."

Bill Smith presents Ohio State Buckeyes V. Northwestern Wildcats posted at BrutusReport, saying, "The Ohio State Buckeyes vs. the Northwestern University Wildcats game is getting a lot of hype, and not for the usual reasons."

Bill Smith presents Alex Bookser Is Considering His 2014 Options posted at eFilmRoom, saying, "Recently, Alex Bookser, offensive lineman from the class of 2014, made the brief journey from his native Pittsburgh to what might be his stomping ground in the future, Columbus."

Bill Smith presents Alex Bookser Slotted For OSU posted at eScoutRoom, saying, "Offensive Tackle Alex Bookser, is a 295 lbs offensive line prospect being recruited by Ohio State for their 2014 class."

Bill Smith presents 10 Critical Questions for the AFC - FryingPanSports posted at FryingPan Sports, saying, "Join Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports and me for the Browns and NFL week recap show every Monday at 6 PM Eastern time live on http://www.justin.tv/papaburl or the archives on http://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/."

Bill Smith presents DT Thomas Holley Has Ohio State On His Short List posted at eFilmRoom, saying, "Abraham Lincoln High School defensive tackle Thomas Holley is the top-rated high school football player in New York, so it's no surprise that he is being courted by more than 25 BCS-level schools."

Bill Smith presents Where Will Thomas Holley Go? posted at eScoutRoom, saying, "Thomas Holley is a defensive tackle from Brooklyn, New York and attends Abraham Lincoln High School. He is nothing but raw strength and power."

Bill Smith presents Why did the Steelers fall so far so fast? posted at FryingPan Sports, saying, "Note: Join Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports, Tony Williams Giants beat writer for Metro New York paper and me for a week 6 NFL preview Friday Oct. 11 at 6 PM Eastern on http://www.justin.tv/papaburl or catch the archives on http://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/."

Justin Burnette presents Louisville "Angry Birds" defense overlooked nationally posted at College Football Universe - Blog.

Justin Burnette presents Illinois must improve to compete in Big Ten posted at College Football Universe - Blog.

Sharon Harvey Rosenberg presents Concussions Hit Younger Athletes Harder | Health, Life & Community | Baptist Health South Florida posted at Health, Life & Community, saying, "by John Fernandez: Here are some sobering statistics for parents of young athletes playing organized, high-contact sports, particularly football at the high school level or earlier. Football is the No. 1 sport (followed by soccer) that causes the highest frequency of concussions, up to 10 percent of players each season. Of those, 70 percent have symptoms of a concussion, but did not know they had one."

mma

Bill Smith presents 4 Diffrence Between Boxing And MMA posted at Brutusreport.com, saying, "Boxing has been the dominant combat sport in terms of revenues for several decades now, but its position is being challenged by the fairly new enterprise called Mixed Martial Arts."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of sports carnival ecstasy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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9 Ways to Improve the NBA

Image via Wikipedia

The NBA has a lot it could do to improve. Everyone knows this. Even the players. Even the owners. So why don't they do something about it? You guessed it. Money. That little detail aside, here are nine things the NBA could do to improve itself...easily.

#1 Make the regular season a lot shorter. We all know the lockout-induced season this year is only going to be 66 games. This is probably a little bit too short. But 82 games, a normal season these days, is way too long. Players get hurt, they don't play defense, and they struggle to make it to the end of the season. For many fans, watching the playoffs is the extent of their fanaticism. This is sad. Watching players slog through a too-long season is also so. Somewhere around 70 games would be perfect. College baseball players double the amount of games they play in the pros, and football players play around 50% more. Basketball players play three times as many. Time to change that.

#2 Change the referee system. First of all, hire more referees so that players and referees don't develop relationships, bad or good. This can only lead to bias in calling the game. Also, show us stats on referees. And please hire more athletic refs while you're at it, possibly even some ex-NBA players. The ones you have now can't keep up.

#3 Slash players’ salaries. This doesn't even need an explanation. Players make too much, which leads to ridiculous ticket prices, and ridiculous prices for concessions. I do not need to pay nine bucks for a 12 ounce beer. Owners, coaches and admin don't need to make as much, either.

#4 Cut back on the number of playoff teams. Teams with 39 wins don't need to participate in the playoffs. It's not competitive, and it's not good for ratings. I know this issue is once again about money, but come on! We don't need to see playoff sweep after playoff sweep in the first round. It's not fun for us to watch, or for the low seeded team to play, when we pretty much know the outcome.

#5 Bring fairness to NBA scheduling. Teams do not need to play on back-to-back days. This would only be fair if all teams got an equal number of these disasters, but they don't. So, in the spirit of fair play, let's try to eliminate these from teams’ schedules. There are often scheduling conflicts at certain stadiums that make this difficult, but if it isn't possible, at least try to make it equal.

#6 No more minimum age rule. One-and-done should go the way of the Dodo. Players who know they're going pro after a year of college barely complete a semester of school. One semester of college? And then you can go pro? Who thought of this rule? These kids are getting nothing out of college, and the schools are doing everything they can to get around this rule, including borderline cheating. Get rid of it and set up some sort of more sophisticated developmental league.

#7 Guaranteed money? No more. Guaranteed salaries in the NBA have caused more problems than they have solved. Signing bonuses, or less years guaranteed would probably work out better. Or guarantees that only come into effect based on performance. We don't need to see any more players slacking in their later years because they have a huge guaranteed salary. No more faking injuries, or taking too long to get surgery and waiting until the regular season begins, please.

#8 Make the trade rules more lenient. With the recent trade issues, it's obvious that the rules need to be changed. I understand not wanting one team to be a dynasty, but come on. Let the trades happen. GMs are not stupid people; usually they have the ability to figure out what's best for their team. There should still be a "that's a ridiculous trade" clause in the rules where it's obvious there's a fire-sale going on, but let the trades happen.

#9 Finally, make the luxury tax fair. I understand the concept behind the tax, but it keeps the small market teams down and the larger market teams on top. It needs to be changed to be based on revenue and the size of that teams market for it to work. Minnesota and Chicago are way different in terms of size, so why doesn't this matter when it comes to the luxury tax. The penalties are the same for both teams, which really makes it hard for the Timberwolves to field a competitive team. Change the luxury tax now. Tax the wealthy.

All of these changes would make the NBA not only a better product for fans to watch, but a better place for the players to play. Change is not always a bad thing.

Rich Spaulding is CEO of Gold Star Games, a tailgate gear and cornhole bags supplier.

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