How good are the cavs?

The Clevelad Cavaliers has struggle to start the season but many believe they will turn it around.I think will prove to be true. The Cavs struggled early and thats due to lack of time playing together combined with a coach that is a rookie to the NBA. As the season goes on and these guys build chemistry and trust they will begin to dominate. This is a remake of the big 3 in Miami with a champsionsip expeirienced Lebron, a top 3 PG in Kyrie and one of the best big men in the league in Kevin Love. Expect love to be gone at the end of the year for a max contract, but look for the Cavs to win this years NBA Championship.

Brick back AI in PHI

The 76ers did pick up the first win last night over the Minnesota timber wolves, but the the t-wolves at a mere 3-14 themselves. the 76ers are bad, very bad, although they do have some young talent they are looking to develop into a very strong squad. Fans don't wont development they want wins. Before the win yesterday a fan was interviewed and said that they have lost their fan base in philly and would rather give Allen Iverson another shot in order to win. This is just an example of a pro team that is trying to rebuild the right way, through the draft, but unfortunately their is no time to waste in this industry.

Rock football All-Region Selections

5 Rock Football studs were named to the Daktronics Super Region 1 Team. These players include 1st team selections Shamar Greene, Admire Carter and redshirt freshman sensation Marcus Martin. Claiming 2nd team honors were Derek Fullmore and Cory Tucker. This just add to the success the prgram has had not only within our own conference, the PSAC but the national level. These 5 players had outstanding years leading The Rock to back to back western division championships as well as 3 of the last 5, and also back to back PSAC championship game appearanes for the first time since the late 90's. Thanks too these 5 young men along with the rest of the team, The Rock has created a team that expects to compete at the national level year in and year out.

Goodbye Brady!

After 4 season, 3 being humiliating as a Michigan Football fan the school decided to fire head coach Brady Hoke. Hoke came in 2010 and had a solid year going 11-2 leading the team a Sugar Bowl victory, but ever since it has been a fast downward spiral for the blue and maize. QB play has had a lot to do with the recent turmoil and Hoke has not helped himself out. This season Hoke caught a lot of heat for allowing a clearly concussed Shane Morris to reenter a contest. This comes full circle back to how the head coach doesnt wear a headset on game day. Head sets to football coaches are essential to communicate throughout the game so that changes and adjustments can be made strategically. The University let the coach know they were moving on Tuesday afternoon and are now looking to fill one of the most historic jobs in college football.

Jahlil Okafor- The next BIG thing

Duke's highly talented 6'11" freshman has made a huge slash in this short college season. He has been dominant down low, has show great touch in a mid range jump shot and is a physical presence on the defesive side of the ball. The freshamn is already being regarded as a could be number 1 pick. This is a new look for a Duke team that usually feature a stellar back court and average at best back court, this team is solid front to back and is a contender for the national tittle because of it.

CFB Ranking System

The new college football ranking system has proven to be an absolute failure. They put a politician in charge of the committee and now that is all it has become, politics. The committee refuses to reward Baylor for beating TCU and continues to put TCU ahead of them and even has TCU making the first playoff bracket! I just dont understand what the people are thinking. They will punish a team like Ohio State because JT Barrett gets hurt but wont honor a head to head victory? In my opinion we know have the right format by letting 4 or more teams in a playoff, but we need to go back to the computer ranking system.

The Truth Will Surface

This week The NFL Commissioner will have to testify under oath, as the Ray Rice"saga" continues. The comish will be asked several question pertaining to the video leaked by TMZ and when the video was first seen by the league offices. The larger issue at hand though is that of Ray's suspension. The claim Rice and his lawyer are making is that Ray Rice was punishment not once but twice for the same crime. If it is found the Ray Rice was punished twice for the same crime, his suspension could be lifted and he woul be free to play this season if any team would be willing to sign him. I do not stand for domestic violence, but i do believe that the right thing needs to be done in this situation, Ray and his now wife moved on from the sitation, continued the wedding and were looking towards a bright future. Today, they are left made an example of only due to Roger Goodell's  effort to save his own rear end and that of the league.

Royal Company

With the Fall Classic set for the first pitch, it features a team that hasnt made appearance since 1985 and a team looking for thier 3rd tittle in 5 years. The Royals of Kansas althought they haven't made a World Series appearance since 1985, come in in to this years series riding a 13 game post season win streak and are the hottest team in baseball. The Giants are making their third appearance in the last 5 years and also their 3rd tittle. To me, I love seeing teams like Kansas City, who arent featured as a traditon power houses make a run to the tittle. I am not a fan of Dynasties, their needs to be turnover to keep the race interesting each year. 

Rock Football travels to UofM

This past week the Football team here at the university was invited to play a game at "The Big House" at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, MI. They weekend consisted of amazing hospitality, great experiences and memories of a lifetime. Unfortunately the games result was not what was expected as we took the loss to Mercyhurst 45-23. We were able to sty at The Henry Ford Hotel in Dearborn, MI, where the NFL teams who com to town to play the Detroit Lions. It was also nice to see how many students, fans and family made the trip. The support we received from both The Slippery Rock and Michigan communities was beyond what we could have ever expected. Although we took the loss it was a great way for SRU to gain recognition on the National Stage as we received air time on ESPN's College Game Day show. Hopefully with this exposure we can grow as a program and work our way to the top of the National rankings.

Jacksonville- No place for a professional football team

Robert Swartz:

                          This past Sunday the beloved Pittsburgh Steelers traveled south to take on the Jaguars. The game was played to a 17-9 victory for the good guys (Pittsburgh), but how does the league not notice the lack of interest in the football team? EverBank field in Jacksonville went under some renovations this past off season, turning the football stadium into a sort of social club. The new renovations include a pool on the second level of the stadium where fans can party and maybe catch a play or two if they feel like it. Its clear the team wants to take care of the fans and give them a great expirience, but what would happen if they put that much effort into building a winning team? Its time for the partiers in Jacksonville to give the team up to a city where the team will be about winning and results not getting poolside seats to a game.

                              This is not even to mention the massive amount of money dumped into building the worlds largest scoreboard.  scoreboard construction

Its time for the city to start paying the players and getting talent instead of paying laborers and contractors to have a immaculate stadium.

NCAA- Upside Down

                                              Collegiate football at the division 1 level seems to look a bit upside down after this weeks contest. The teams rank 2,3,4,6,8 all went down, This is the first time this has happened since 1990! We are also seeing teams that are very unfamiliar to the top of the polls such as Ole Miss and Mississippi State tied for 3rd and we also saw Arizona go from unranked top number 10 in this weeks poll. This college season is still young and has been nothing short of exciting and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season will play out.

SportVU- Data of the Futrue

SportVU in the NBA

                     SportVU is a new  technology to the U.S, although it has been used in Europe for soccer and very few MLB teams have tried it. When the NBA tips off October 29, every arena will be equipped with this data collection technology. This technology developed by an Israeli company to collect data, there will be 6 cameras that each take 25 clips be second, which will be over 4 million clips in a 48 min regulation game. This technology is going to help teams with breakdowns such as, Lebron shooting betting on Tuesdays or even as far as to predict who will take the next shot or even where the pass will end up. I think this software is going to change the game by allowing teams to game plan even deeper and get us as fans more exciting less predictable basketball.

Thoughts About Me

                                                             Thoughts About Me.                                            9/23/2014

 My name is Robert Swartz, but I go by R.J. I am a small town kid from nearby Mercer,Pa. i grew up a multi sport athlete and have loved sports since day 1. Although I do have a passion for Sports, it was a long road for me to finally find Sport Management. I began and education major and wasn't exactly in love with it, I then tried to study accounting, which was totally miserable. On the brink of dropping out or deciding to go to a trade school, i thought why not combine academics with what i love- Sports!

  Technology is at an all-time high when it comes to usage and its only growing. Throughout the last few months we have seen organizations go as far as creating apps so the may order food and not leave their seats, along with these sorts of things we have seen a huge emergence in social media- specially referencing in-game tweeting from players. Last year at the pro bowl in Hawaii, we actually saw social media stations for players to tweet directly from the sideline, although i understand that the pro bowl is a "fun" game with no real meaning for the NFL and its all about entertaining the fan, but for this "old school" sports fan i feel there is no place in sports for social media- especially during competition. Do what you want on your own time but when playing or competing leave the social media outside of the facility.