THE PUTTDOWN

2020 gets worse by the week. Recent announcements have seen college football conferences cancelled or suspended until the spring of 2021, leaving players, coaches and fans reeling in the news. One of the biggest questions that have come from these announcements is what will happen to the players. As a student-athlete, you are now just a student, which means you will finally have to start going to class. If you are an athlete reading this, you are in the right place, below we cultivated a list on what to do next, and thrive as a student. Get a pen and paper. This will be key, you will need this in all of your classes, to take notes from the teacher, or "coach" of the class.  The teacher is in charge, but instead of shouting at you when you miss a catch or fumble the ball, they will shout at you when you get an answer wrong or fall asleep in class. Try not to fall asleep in class. Books. What is a book you ask? It's like a playbook for the class you are taking, it contains ...

Before we begin, I’d like to offer a brief update on the Nike Belichick situation, detailed at length in a previous blog; ESPN requested Nike as an analyst for their 3 hour (not a typo) Schedule Release special. His owner, Bill, proved to be the thorn in his side this time, rejecting the request, apparently with some whimsical excuse about 3 hours being ridiculous and a dog not being able to hold a microphone.  Moving on. Up until now, college athletes haven’t been allowed to accept any money from any outside source during their time at college. Whether that’s advertising for a local donut shop, or accepting a small loan from a family member; just ask this year’s 2nd overall pick in the NFL draft, Chase Young. He had to sit out a game for this exact reason.  The governing body for college sports, the NCAA (*boo*), recently announced that they will allow college athletes to negotiate sponsorship deals from third-parties. Essentially any deal that doesn’t involv...

One of the many highlights of the first-ever virtual draft this past weekend was the rare, intimate look into the homes and families of these high-flying NFL execs who can appear anywhere from heatless to overly sentimental to inhumane depending on your team loyalties. This leads us nicely to the goodest of boys who expertly selected Kyle Dugger from Lenoir-Rhyne with the 37th pick. Of course, we are referring to Nike Belichick, the canine companion of the 6-time Super Bowl winning coach of the Patriots. Ever since the NFL's pyjama Olympics (combine), Nike has had to come to terms with never playing in the NFL. The sadistic rule-setters decided that he was, in fact, ineligible on account of his 4 legs and superior intelligence. His football IQ is clearly higher than the Steelers center who failed to snap the ball on command. Nike pointed to the black cat who famously played in the Cowboys and Giants tilt on Monday Night football last year. "obviously it has nothing to do with ...

With talk of professional sports coming back, there is talk about how the leagues will be set out and what will happen. Below you will be able to see MY hopes and predictions for what happens when the individual sporting leagues return. NBA: At this point in the year we would be in the middle of the playoffs. I believe once the leagues return, they will go straight into the playoffs but instead of 8 teams from each division qualifying, everyone qualifies, that's right, that includes the New York Knicks. The playoffs will be set up in a March Madness-style, winner takes all in the majority of the rounds. This will be until the conference finals, which will be expanded to a 3 game series and the finals a 5 game series. Lebron James will lead his Lakers to the final to only be beaten again at the final hurdle, by Giannis and his Bucks. The Bucks have Donte DiVencenzo on their roster, a previous NCAA champion, and master of the March madness format. He will, unsurprising to me, go on...

The Weekly Puttdown Welcome to the weekly Puttdown. A weekly run-through of the major news from the major sports around the globe. Short and to the point, cutting through the drivel and not to be taken too seriously. NBA: There was daylight robbery in Detroit this week. Cleveland managed to secure the services of Andre Drummond for practically nothing. The Clippers picked Marcus Morris and Isaiah Thomas from the Knicks and Wizards, only to release Thomas hours later. Imagine that, one second you have a team, the next you are traded and subsequently released for nothing, must hurt the ego. Football (Premier League unless otherwise stated): There was a winter break in the premier league this weekend, with only 4 games scheduled. One of which was called off due to the biggest storm in the UK for decades. People still hate VAR. MLB: LA Dodgers have pulled off one of the biggest trades of the offseason picking up Mookie  Betts and David Price. The...

The Weekly Puttdown Welcome to the weekly Puttdown. A weekly run-through of the major news from the major sports around the globe. Short and to the point, cutting through the drivel and not to be taken too seriously. NFL: Kansas City Chiefs are your Super Bowl 54 Champions. In classic 2019-2020 Kansas style, they gave themselves a mountain to climb, going behind again in the playoffs, 10 points down going into the fourth quarter, only to surge back and take the win on the back of Patrick Mahomes MVP performance. Lamar Jackson was named Unanimous MVP, only the second time this has ever happened. This comes only a couple of years after being told he should be a wide receiver by the so-called experts. It makes you think, doesn’t it? NBA: The NBA continued to mourn the loss of the legend Kobe Bryant with tributes paid all across the league. The league made some changes to the All-star format this year. Every quarter will be to play for with the winnin...

The Weekly Puttdown Welcome to the weekly Puttdown. A weekly run through off the major news from the major sports around the globe. Short and to the point, cutting through the drivel and not to be taken to seriously. 13-19/01/2020 NFL: Well there we have it, Superbowl 54 will be contested between The Chiefs and the 49ers. The Cinderella story of the Titans came to and end and the Packers decided to play on the most difficult setting by not turning up until 27 down. NBA and WNBA: In a giant step forward in the WNBA, a new collective bargaining agreement was agreed to this week. The deal included a large pay rise and paid maternity leave. These are steps in the right direction as the popularity for the women’s game continues to grow. Oh and Lakers are still top of the West, Bucks still top of the East. Football (Premier League unless otherwise stated): This weekend we saw the save of the season from Bournemouth’s Steve Cook. It was just a sham...

The Weekly Puttdown Welcome to the weekly Puttdown. A weekly run through off the major news from the major sports around the globe. Short and to the point, cutting through the drivel and not to be taken to seriously. NFL: The Texans blew a 24-point lead; they blew it so quickly it was gone before half time. The Packers ruined Lynches coming out of retirement party, but it was nice to see they game him the ball on the goal line twice, unfortunately, this doesn’t change history. Baltimore Ravens players decided not to turn up in their most important game of the year, forgetting that, when the ball is thrown to you, that you are meant to catch it. Derrick Henry continued to walk through defences, one point even making an opponent in to a lead blocker.   The 49ers blew out the Vikings, which led the Cleveland Browns to employ the Vikings OC as their new head coach after he got embarrassed that same weekend, a move that only the Cleveland Browns would do. NBA: ...