THE SPORTS DIVA MAGAZINE

Wednesday News Roundup 4.30.08

How would you like it if your blog wound up missing? Not good huh? If you know the whereabouts of Five Tool Tool, please contact the certain parties. (Epic Carnival)

Did you know that Steve Nash has a production company? Well he obviously needs something to do in May while playing with the Suns. (NESW Sports)

Poor Cueto. 7 runs in 2 innings? Your a Redleg so I still love you. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Someone else hates bloggers. Shocker. But do they really know what they hate? (EDSBS)

A Wizards fan writes a letter to them about the series against the Cavs. (Mind Pinball)

Larry Brown Sports on Larry Brown's new job. (Larry Brown Sports)

DeShawn Stevenson. My oh my. PLEASE fire your people. (DC Sports Bog)

Top 25 NBA blogs. (Le Basketbawl)

Someone not happy bout where they stand in the top 25 NBA blogs. (Celtics Blog)

Things Have Changed

Obviously things look different around here. I went with a different look. I do love the pink and purple but decided to celebrate some other colors that are dear to me. Red, Gray, Black and White. I hope you like :)

Divas Guide To Sports: Don't Know Sports, Find Someone Who Does.

I love sports. I really do. I have spent the whole weekend watching the NFL draft and NBA playoffs and I didn't watch any of it because of my boyfriend. He didn't even come over this weekend. I had the whole place, and TV, to myself and yes I love him but it was nice. But I'm sure there were probably some females out there that did not spend their whole weekend watching sports. You know, sometimes I forget that there are some females who don't actually like sports. And this post is for all those females who hated that their boyfriends sat on the couch all weekend instead of taking them out. Or if they did take them out, they ended up at a sports bar.

The next time your boyfriend mentions something about a game or a draft that is about to come on, mention something about that said game or draft to throw him for a loop. After you mention that something, go on about your business without him and let him sit there wondering how you knew that. It's a win win situation for you. You will get things done without him moping that he's missing sports and he will be sitting at home still wondering how his girl knew something that he may not have. His confusion could possibly even distract him from what he stayed home for in the first place.

Now you may be wondering, "if I know nothing about sports, where do I learn?" Why from Blogs of course. But with so many sports blogs, where do you even begin? Yes you could begin with the big ones like Deadspin and The Big Lead. But maybe you are one who would feel more comfortable reading a sports blog from another female. You can obviously find some things that you need here at The Sports Diva Magazine. But I'm not going to lie to you and say that we cover everything. We don't. So here is a list of some other female sports bloggers to help you out. And this is just the beginning. I'm sure I left some blogs off. But please feel free to leave a link in the comments to those blogs. Enjoy!

Ladies...

Babes Love Baseball

Black Tennis Pro's

Strike Zones And End Zones

Center Field

Chicks In The Huddle

GRIDIRON GODDESS

Girls Gone Sports

SNARKASTIC

Black And Gold Tchotchkes

And One

Fantoo Girls

Kickette

Just A Nats Fan

Athlebrities

Lady At The Bat

Lipgloss & Baseball

Metsgrrl.com

Yankees Chick

Leave The Man Alone

Need 4 Sheed

Red Hot Mama

Beginning To Appreciate Cincinnati Bengals 2nd Round Pick Jerome Simpson

                                

I've been watching the NFL draft all day. And if you've been following me on Twitter, you'll know how I did not want the Bengals to select offense just defense. I was happy when Keith Rivers was selected at the 9th pick. DEFENSE! Then the second pick came around and the Cincinnati Bengals selected Jerome Simpson, WR from Coastal Carolina. Who? That is exactly what I said to myself after the pick. Wait a wide receiver? That's the second thing I said to myself. So at first, I was not appreciative. Thought the Bengals could have gotten another good player on defense. So then I had to Google him and find out who this new wide receiver is. And an article popped up by Jim Young from News-Record.com: Simpson's Route From Obscurity Nearly Complete.

".....Simpson dominate high school defensive backs, using his huge hands and springy legs to roll up 1,493 yards receiving in 2002 and catch 96 passes in 2003. Both years the Rams won state titles." ...."My mom always said, 'If you're good enough, they'll find you,' " he said. "Most definitely, they found me."(News-Record)

From the article, we find out that he comes from Reidsville, North Carolina. He almost went to play for East Carolina but felt that they pressured him too much to commit. So he went to a school hardly anyone has heard of, Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C. Where he played for 4 years and became the Big South Conference's career record-holder in TD's and receiving yards. He also has a 41 inch vertical and ran the 40 under 4.5 twice. He also played in the East-West Shrine game and shocked the analysts including Todd McShay. He got put on the scouts radars after that. And now he will be in Cincinnati.

As much as I wanted the Bengals to select defense, with the release of Chris Henry and the drama with Chad Johnson, there is nothing wrong with picking THIS wide receiver here. Oh, and I here he has good character. Something the Bengals definitely need.

Follow Me on Twitter for NFL Draft!

HAPPY NFL DRAFT DAY!

I'm sitting here excited and ready for the draft to begin. I won't be live blogging BUT I will be Twittering. I believe I might be obsessed with Twitter. I don't believe there is anything wrong with that though. That could just be the talk of an addict though.

If you would like to follow me during the draft, you know you do, just click on my Twitter page. http://www.twitter.com/thesportsdiva.

See ya there!

Wednesday Morning Roundup 4.23.08

Yes the game was Monday but if you would like to revisit the Cavs vs. Wizards, read this. (And One)

By the way, Eli Manning is a married man. Quite a year for him. (Kissing Suzy Kolber)

Justin Boren, the ex-wolverine, is transferring to be a Buckeye. (Eleven Warriors)

Oden in State College drinking some Franzai. (The Big Lead)

The 1st round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is OVAH! (Epic Carnival)

These should do you for this morning. Should be back this afternoon or evening give you more.

With The First Pick In The 2008 NFL Draft..........

I don't know which makes me cringe more. The fact that a Wolverine is being picked 1st in the NFL draft this year or the fact that the Miami Dolphins just couldn't wait until Saturday and had to let everyone know on a Tuesday what their first pick was.

The Miami Dolphins will be selecting Jake Long, the offensive tackle from Michigan. You know, the guy that got burnt constantly by Vernon Gholston on November 17, 2007. Ok, that's the last Rivalry mention I promise.

But seriously, why couldn't they just wait? I was all ready to sit in front of my TV on Saturday and wonder like everyone else who would be this years first pick. Would it be McFadden, Dorsey, Matt Ryan? None of the above. It was a Wolverine. The drama is gone. And did I mention it will be a Wolverine?

I'll still watch of course. Have to make sure Marvin Lewis and Co. don't do anything stupid. Alright St. Louis wake up. Your on the clock.

The NBA Shudders – Nonprofit Basketball

by Carolyn Hastings
AND ONE

In America, basketball leads to international fame and fortune for the talented few.  LeBron and Damon Jones are in China and almost every NBA team boasts of players from abroad. 

Ironically, in Sweden, a country which enjoys a high standard of living, basketball players struggle for recognition and a paycheck.

I know this because I came across a wonderful blog (thoughtful, funny, diverse) from -- of all places -- Sweden.  I e-mailed the owner and, to my surprise, received an enthusiastic response. 

For reasons that will become clear as you read this interview, my new friend remains anonymous and wishes to be known only as a source within the Svenska Basketligan (Swedish Basketball League).

About Saturday's NBA Playoffs

Yesterday made me love the NBA more than I didn't know I could. The drama. The passion. The heartbreak. It was amazing. 4 great games. I just hope today's games will be just as good.

We had Lebron James vs. Gilbert Arenas when the Wizards went into Cleveland for game 1 of their series and the opening game of the NBA playoffs. Lebron couldn't get anything early as the Wizards pounded on him and Gilbert seemed to knock down everything as he was 4-4 from the 3 point line in the 1st half. But who in DeShawn Stevenson's camp didn't tell him to not call Lebron "overrated"? Do people like doing stupid things? The trash talking just fuels Lebron. He went off with 32 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assist in the Cavs 93-86 win over the Wizards. Congratulations Lebron James. You've made this anti-Cleveland sports fan root for the Cavs 3 years in a row in the playoffs. Not just anyone can do that. So don't even think about leaving Cleveland. Trust that you won't get showed more love than you do now playing in Cleveland. 

And then the Suns @ Spurs happened. I have to admit that at the beginning of the game, because I got so hyped from the Cavs vs. Wizards game, I was a little bored. The Suns had gotten up to a 16 point lead. But of course the defending champs are never worried. They fought back and conquered. It did take 2 overtimes but they did what they needed to do. They broke the Suns. A game the Suns should have won became heartbreaking for them. Now they have to go back there on Tuesday and face what could have been. Spurs won in double OT 117-115.

The night games seemed to have been a blur for me. I was a little burnt out but I watched anyway. The New Orleans Hornets were down to the Dallas Mavericks. It seemed like the trend of the day. The road team being up early and then crashing back down to earth. That's when Chris Paul showed Dallas they were in his town. The MVP candidate had 35 points, 10 assist, and 4 steals in a 104 -92 win over the Mavericks.

The game that stopped the trend of the day was the Utah Jazz @ Houston Rockets. Utah was up early like the other road teams but they never crumbled. Houston did get close but close was never enough. With Deron Williams and 10 assist, we found out home court advantage doesn't matter to everyone. The Jazz won 93 - 82.  

NBA Playoffs Preview

Since I had fun doing my MLB previews and finding some great sites for your favorite team, I thought I'd do the same for the NBA playoffs. So let's get into it.

Eastern Conference

1.  Boston Celtics (Celtics Blog)
2.  Detroit Pistons (Need4Sheed.com)
3.  Orlando Magic (Orlando Magic Blog)
4.  Cleveland Cavaliers (Cavs News and And One) (had to shout out my girl too)
5.  Washington Wizards (D.C. Sports Bog)
6.  Toronto Raptors (Cuzoogle)
7.  Philadelphia 76ers (Depressed Fan)
8.  Atlanta Hawks (Hawks Basketblog)

Western Conference

1.  LA Lakers (Forum Blue and Gold)
2.  New Orleans Hornets (Hornets 24/7 and Chicks In The Huddle) (can not stop shouting out to my girls)
3.  San Antonio Spurs (Project Spurs)
4.  Utah Jazz (My Utah Jazz)
5.  Houston Rockets (The Dream Shake)
6.  Phoenix Suns (AZ Sports Hub)
7.  Dallas Mavericks (Mavs Moneyball)
8.  Denver Nuggets (The Nugg Doctor)

And of course other sites like Ball Don't Lie, Le Basketbawl, True Hoop, and FreeDarko.com. Happy Reading!