  Have you ever heard of the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City? Apparently, there are tales of ghosts and ghouls coming from their resting places into the rooms of guests. If you don’t believe in those types of wives’ tales, then you better hear NBA title winner Metta World Peace explain his personal account at the hotel when the Lakers took on the Oklahoma City Thunder this past week. Metta World Peace, formerly Ron Artest, told a reporter at the Orange County Register an interesting story about ghosts “touching him.” Artest told the reporter: "The ghosts were all over me. I just accepted it. They touched me all over the place. I'm taking one of the ghosts to court for touching me in the wrong places." Apparently, Artest was not the only Laker shaken by ghost tales. Reportedly, Lou Williams and Larry Nance Jr. paid to stay at another hotel to avoid the ghouls. Happy Halloween to the Lakers.  ESPN just released an article that suggests the NFL’s tanking ratings can be attributed to Colin Kaepernick’s protest of the national anthem.
A Seton Hall Sports poll asked NFL viewers why they thought ratings were down 11 percent from last year around this time. Most concluded that it was because of Kaepernick’s protest. While we do recall seeing a few people on Twitter mentioning boycotting football games because the “NFL was not disciplining players for not observing the flag,” one poll cannot prove that is the cause. Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, disagrees with the findings. He stated that multiple factors could be contributing to the decline including “the presidential election, over-saturation of games, the focus on postseason baseball and head injuries that have resulted in the decline of play.” The poll supposedly acquired their results from a sample of 841 adults in the U.S.  For the first time in years, the Los Angeles Lakers have a better record than the Golden State Warriors. However short-lived this fact may be, many Lakers fans are relishing in the moment. The Lakers looked like the skilled, youthful team many have been longing for last night against the Houston Rockets. The competition was fierce and heated right up until the last few minutes of the fourth quarter. In the first quarter, the two teams were neck and neck, each ending the quarter with 38-points. In the second quarter, the Lakers were actually outscored by 8-points, but roared back in the third and fourth quarters for a total score of 120 to the Rockets’ 114. What contributed to the Lakers’ success against James Harden and the Rockets? Jordan Clarkson contributed 25-points and D’Angelo Russell added 20 for the Lakers. Julius Randle produced seven rebounds and six assists to help the team to victory. This was ex-Laker Luke Walton’s debut as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers may be coming off the worst season in the team’s history, but this game shined a hopeful light for the future.  Golden State was served a rude awakening last night with their 29-point loss to the Spurs. The Warriors were out scored in every quarter of the game, despite newbie Kevin Durant adding 27-points.
The real showstopper was the Spur's Kawhi Leonard, putting up 35-points on the Warriors in their own Oakland arena. The Spurs dominated the entire game, ending with a 129-100 win over Golden State. In a post-game press conference, former MVP Stephen Curry called the loss, "a slap in the face." Curry went on to say, "We didn't have many answers to start the game and every run we made, they answered for whatever reason. We do have a lot of work to do, but I think we're still in a pretty good spot." The official start to the NBA season begins tonight with some star-studded games. The Knicks will be facing off against the Cleveland Cavaliers at 6:30 p.m. on TNT, followed by the Spurs battling the Golden State Warriors at 9:30 p.m. on the same network. Who are you most excited to see? Take our poll!  Since Auburn has been eradicating SEC teams at every turn lately, it’s no surprise they made the largest jump of any other team on the Associated Press NCAA poll this week. The Tigers jumped up five slots to being ranked No. 15 in week 9 after the team demolished every play thrown at them by Arkansas last Saturday, beating them 56-3.
The Tigers exuded fire and confidence from the start, scoring their first touchdown with Eli Stove’s 78-yard run. Auburn kept hammering the Razorbacks with a second touchdown deriving from a 9-yard run that Kamryn Pettway produced. By the end of the first quarter, Auburn was up 21-0. The second half of play didn’t offer much reprieve for Arkansas. They managed to sink in close enough to kick a 54-yard field goal. However, Auburn’s defense never enabled the Fayetteville team to gain footing or any additional points after that drive in the second quarter. 87,451 people attended the game at Jordan-Hare Stadium that may just have sunk a hole in the coffin of Alabama’s visions of grandeur. Many believe that the Iron Bowl will not be an easy win this year for the Tide.  Not everyone is on board with a remake of the 1996 classic, “Space Jam”. Reportedly, LeBron James will reprise the role that we all knew and loved of Michael Jordan in the sequel, which does not have a current release date.
Patrick Patterson of the Tonto Raptors believes the remake is simply a money grab that is set to make a mockery of the original film. We’re not sure we’re too far behind his thoughts. Patterson wrote an open letter to Players' Tribune, where he stated, “To make a sequel to Space Jam would be like trying to paint the Mona Lisa again. Sure, you can probably do it, but why would you want to? Some things are bigger than money, though. Some things are sacred. I think the rich legacy of Space Jam is one of those things. What a tragedy it would be if even one kid was deterred from watching the original Space Jam because Space Jam 2 was just horrible. We simply can't let that happen. We were welcomed to the Space Jam once. Why can't that be enough?” Honestly, we’re not all that excited about a Space Jam reboot either, especially throwing athletes into acting roles that they are not privy to. One example would be Ray Allen in the film, “He Got Game.” The acting wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t beneficial either. According to ESPN, Alcorn State is facing heavy repercussions for ineligible players taking part in sporting events. The NCAA statement said, “Alcorn State failed to monitor its progress-toward-degree certification process when it improperly certified 28 student-athletes.” This impacts various teams at Alcorn State including football, baseball, men’s football, women’s tennis, tracks and field and soccer. The school has also been placed on a probationary period until 2018 and each team impacted must vacate wins from the 2012 and 2013 season when the ineligible players participated.   Antonio Brown of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers was disciplined recently for wearing Muhammad Ali cleats to a game. If Brown did not remove the cleats, the NFL threatened to disqualify him from competition.
According to the Twitter handle below, Brown wore the black and yellow cleats with Ali’s face on them in remembrance of the legendary boxer. In previous weeks, he wore cleats featuring Arnold Palmer and was not fined. However, another pair of blue cleats Brown wore in Week 1 of the NFL match-ups earned him a fine because the league concluded the shoes did not match the team’s colors. In a surprising twist, the lead investigator that helped bring gang rape charges against New York Knicks superstar Derrick Rose was murdered recently. Nadine Hernandez suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and police have not stated whether the case is being reviewed as a suicide or a homicide. The 44-year old officer was shot in Los Angeles and taken to a local hospital where she died. There are no suspects at this time. This case is developing.   We’re sure that many have heard about the heartbreaking situation facing the Miami Heat's Chris Bosh. Bosh was not cleared by the NBA for play this season due to on-going issues with blood clots that he has been battling for a few years.
Many fans are questioning why the NBA Championship winner does not simply retire due to his condition. Bosh provided an answer to this all too familiar question when speaking with news source, “Uninterrupted” recently. “I want my children to know that daddy was a fighter and he just didn't give up very easily," he stated. Bosh currently has five children. He is still technically a member of the Heat franchise and will be paid $76 million over the next three seasons whether he plays or not. However, the money isn’t fazing Chris Bosh and does not outweigh his desire to continue to play basketball. He went on to state, “What I would say to the people, who just see the money and kind of see my situation and say, 'Hey, just walk away,' I get it. I totally get it. I understand you. I hear you. But I'm not really thinking about money. I'm just thinking about where my heart is. I love the NBA. I love playing basketball every day for a living."  Why are the Carolina Panthers 1-4 after a season that can be deemed as a modern “Cinderella story”? We have a bit of insight – defense. In just one season the Panthers’ defense has gone from top of the line to clearly not making the finish line.
The cause may stem from bad resources and pre-season decisions. The Panthers let Josh Norman go into free agency without much of a fight and released another cornerback. Their recent game against Tampa Bay showcased all the cracks that are threatening to break their season in two. It may already be too late for any post-season play because no team has ever come from a 1-4 record to magically be great again. With Cameron Newton’s recent racial criticisms and concussion, he doesn’t seem up for a turnaround. Next Sunday’s game against the Saints doesn’t offer much relief with or without came Newton. The future looks bleak for the franchise. This year, during the heated presidential season, politics have edged their way into sports. Whether the discussion is Colin Kaepernick not standing for the national anthem or the flack Carmelo Anthony has been receiving today since locking arms with players and standing for the national anthem, sports have been impacted. However, there may be an even deeper impact. Recently, CNN polled NFL players about who they would support in the presidential election and contrasted that number with nationwide polls separated by race demographics. Their results are below.  |
