Bob's Mostly Sports Blog

Kemba Walker's declaration of being "ready to go" is big news for the Boston Celtics and their chances of making a title run. Fans of the Boston Celtics received great news this week when Kemba Walker declared himself as “ready to go” when NBA play resumes on July 30th.  After playing in the All-Star game, Walker missed five games with swelling in his knee. Upon his return, he did not look like himself as he struggled and shot only 30.5 percent from the field before the league was shut down. Walker admitted during his media availability this week he had been unhappy with his play during those games after the All-Star break. He also said he needed the break the league was forced into due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although unfortunate, the time to rest his aching knee was truly beneficial. Walker now feels like he just needs to get into game shape, but he is no longer worried about the lingering pain he had been feeling before the season interruption. Having a healthy

 photo by Stephane Coudassot-Berducou on Unsplash The New England Patriots just agreed to an incentive-laden contract. Patriots fans need to relax and embrace him. To all of the New England Patriots fans out there who are already throwing shade at Cam Newton , please relax. While Newton has not always conducted himself like Tom Brady on or off of the field, he is still a former number one pick and former MVP.  Sure, Cam Newton cares about fashion, but he also cares about winning. He is a talented player with a chip on his shoulder and he feels like he has something to prove to the entire league. His story is not entirely different from other players who have been brought in with success in the past.  If Cam Newton winds up like Randy Moss , Darrelle Revis , or Corey Dillon , then both sides will be very happy. In fact, Revis is probably the best comparison because both sides knew his time as a Patriots player would only be for one season. Newton will most likely be the same as thi

Photo by  Martin Kníže  on  Unsplash Although Asuka versus Sasha Banks at Extreme Rules seems like a dream match, the reasons it is happening are concerning. Recently on WWE’s Monday Night Raw (June 22nd edition), Sasha Banks challenged Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship. The match will take place at the company’s next pay-per-view attempt called Extreme Rules taking place in July. Although on paper this looks like it will be a great match, there are many bad signs to take from this pairing.  First and foremost, Banks is technically on the Smackdown roster and thus should not be contending for the Raw championship. However, the WWE is using a loophole since Banks is one-half of the women’s tag team champions which allows this team to appear on any of the three WWE branded shows (Smackdown Live, Raw, and NXT ). With Becky Lynch and Charlotte currently off of TV, Banks is clearly one of WWE’s most recognizable female stars. It is not surprising they would call on her to help bo

With the official debut of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski via photo in their new Tampa Bay Buccaneers uniforms, I find myself having a hard time wishing them well. This despite being a Buccaneers fan. This week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shared the first official photos of both Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski and I have to admit I don’t really like it. I’ve been a Buccaneers fan since I was seven, but I am a lifelong Patriots fan and they are the team ruling my heart.   I keep trying to be happy for the Buccaneers and for Brady, but seeing him in his new uniform has turned this surreal offseason in reality. I find myself a little bitter even though I have tried to fight it.  I hate to say it but I feel like a petty ex when it comes to Gronk and especially Tom Brady. Since I like the Buccaneers, I thought I would find the Brady signing a good thing. After all, he had made it clear he was moving on from the Patriots. If he had to go somewhere else, why shouldn’t it be with a team I could openl

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians showed great forward-thinking when he was recently on Chris Long’s Green Light with Chris Long podcast . He was asked about quarantining a quarterback, and he said it’s in his decision process and something he will decide in the next two to three weeks. Although Tom Brady is new to Tampa Bay and the offensive system, both of his backups are familiar with the offense and terminology. Arians is happy to have two backups who at least knows the offense and can step in from a mental standpoint without a ton of extra practice time or attention. The thought of keeping either Gabbert or Griffin away from Brady would be so if two quarterbacks were to test positive for the coronavirus they may need to be quarantined for 14 days. If this happens, at least the team would have a third quarterback already on the roster who would at least not already be considered to be at huge risk and should be quarantined as well. If this were the case, the team wouldn

As first reported on May 26th, New Orleans Saints defensive end Noah Spence suffered a torn ACL while working out away from the team. The reason why he was working out away from the team is due to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down offseason workouts at team facilities. Since this was the case, the Saints had already elected to not even require any virtual workouts or activities for players during their allowed window. Any individual preparation was conducted by the player or players on their own and not run by the team or under the watchful eye of any team personnel.  Spence was not doing anything wrong, but now his 2020 season is likely over or at least in jeopardy, and the team has placed him on the non-football injury list. What this means is that Spence no longer counts against the team's 90 man roster and they can go ahead and sign another player to take his roster spot. It also means Spence cannot play for the Saints at all this year and the team would not be required to

The New England Patriots released new uniforms today for the first time in the past twenty years. Not so coincidently, the team will also be losing Tom Brady after twenty years. While turning the page on the Brady era, apparently the team wants to solidify this with what was assumed to be a new look. It makes a whole world of sense and many people were anticipating how much of a change the new uniforms would offer. Many people now find themselves underwhelmed. The Patriots “new” home uniforms are the same uniform they have been wearing since 2016 as an alternate uniform. The new navy blue on navy blue was originally conceived under the NFL’s “Color Rush” promotion for teams playing on Thursday nights. It is a blue jersey with a white stripe outlined in red on each shoulder. The Patriots logo also appears to the outside of the stripes. The pants are the same navy blue with the same stripes carrying down each leg. So essentially, these alternate uniforms received a promotion to ful

The Tom Brady  era has ended for the New England Patriots and the quarterback picture remains a bit unclear. Over the weekend, the team reached an agreement with Brian Hoyer to return for a third stint with the Patriots. Hoyer was just recently cut by the Colts and according to his agent, he chose the Patriots over more lucrative offers because he was promised the chance to compete for the starting job. This would seemingly signify that the Patriots may be done with any significant additions to their quarterback room. If this is the case, have they done enough to still be considered a division and conference contender? By adding Hoyer, the Patriots now have a veteran with 38 career starts with six different teams. Along with the starting experience, Hoyer is well versed in the Patriots offense which I am sure played a big part in his return to the team. This factor cannot be overlooked with everything happening in the country and the world right now due to the Coronavirus. With al

           The Boston Bruins went into the 2020 NHL trade deadline with the best record in the league and the favorite for the President’s Cup. Amid speculation GM Don Sweeney would swing for the fences with an all-in type of trade to try to tip the scales in the Bruins favor, instead the team made two calculated moves with upside. Along with the potential the B’s also received cap relief by jettisoning most of the contract of David Backes. Other teams made deals for bigger names, but the potential is there for Boston to have made impactful moves. The eastern conference representative in last year’s Stanley Cup Finals is poised to make another run. It is currently unclear if they have done enough to put them ahead of the rest of the field.  A few days before the deadline passed, the Bruins made the trade to bring in forward Ondrej Kase from Anaheim. This was the more significant scoring impact of the two trades the team made. In Kase, the Bruins get a 24-year-old with speed and p

Tom Brady is perhaps the most intriguing free agent quarterback situation since Peyton Manning left the Indianapolis Colts. Although he has spent his entire 20 year career with the Patriots, it has been considered a realistic possibility that Brady is taking his first true free agent experience seriously. The thought of Brady finishing his career playing for someone other than New England once seemed preposterous, but now it feels like this potential reality may only be a matter of waiting for the opening of the new NFL league year. While making an appearance on Adam Schefter’s podcast, fellow ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington named the Titans as the leader to sign Brady for next season. The potential of Brady signing with the Titans does make some sense. Mike Vrabel is a former teammate and is a known Brady friend. This would give a level of comfort for Tom that he might not even have with the Patriots. Tennessee also provides a potentially strong market for Brady’s ever expanding

On Tuesday night (February 11th), Michigan State University came to terms with former Colorado University head coach Mel Tucker to be their new head football coach. This was after the poorly timed resignation of former head coach Mark Dantonio amid a swarming controversy of potential NCAA violations and poor performance over the last couple of seasons.  The coaching search was not as fruitful as MSU may have hoped as they interviewed San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell, and Tucker only to be initially turned down by all three men. The school then circled back to Tucker and offered him more than double his Colorado salary at $5.5 million while also doubling his assistant coaching pool budget and his strength and conditioning budget. Essentially the offer was more than what Tucker could refuse. He would have been a fool to turn it down and allow them to make the same commitment if not more to someone else.  For Tucke

The trade to send Mookie Betts along with David Price from the Boston Red Sox to the LA Dodgers is now officially complete. Instead of the original 3 team deal that saw Boston receiving major league ready outfielder Alex Verdugo from the Dodgers and major league ready relief pitcher Brusdar Graterol from the Twins, the deal turned into more of a traditional two team deal with the Dodgers sending Verdugo,shortstop prospect Jeter Downs and catching prospect Connor Wong. Did the Red Sox really get enough for a player that is just getting into his prime years at 27 years old and is a former AL MVP? Although he had what was considered a somewhat down year for him, Betts still hit .295 with 29 home runs and 80 RBI while primarily hitting in the top two spots of the lineup. He also still managed to score 135 runs while stealing 16 bases. He was as durable as ever while playing 150 games. For his career, he already has 139 career home runs and provides rare power as a leadoff hitter while

Whether or not the Celtics should trade Gordon Hayward has become a bit of a hot topic in Boston sports right now. There are reasons why maybe the team should think about and there are reasons they should not. With the NBA trade deadline coming up on February 6th, Danny Ainge and the rest of the Boston front office will have to make a determination soon. Reasons to Trade Hayward In the bucket of reasons to trade Hayward, the first thing that usually comes up is his contract. He is making $32,700,690 this season and he has a player option for $34,187,085 next season. Some view him as overpaid and also as a potential way to match salary in a trade for a highly paid center or power forward that may better fit the team’s starting lineup. The other worry is if he were to choose to become a free agent and then sign with another team. In this scenario, the team would potentially not get anything of substance in return for him. Another reason to possibly trade Hayward is that t