[CENTER][IMG]http://www.autoweek.com/storyimage/CW/20130908/NASCAR01/130909846/AR/0/Bowyer-Richmond-NASCAR-Cup.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]


[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]When auto racing fans think of NASCAR, they think about the excitement in every race; not a sport riddled with cheaters.

For the past week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has seen its credibility and support drop dramatically. Ever since the last race at Richmond, NASCAR has found two separate cheating plots, suspended the general manager for Michael Waltrip Racing, removed Martin Truex Jr. from the Chase, added Ryan Newman in his place and added a 13th slot this this year’s field due to one spin causing a mess of the points system.

For the past couple of seasons, NASCAR has seen its credibility start to decline slowly. In 2012, there was the Jeff Gordon-Clint Bowyer fight at Phoenix and Brad Keselowski using his cell phone to tweet pictures during races that brought negative media to the sport.

And in 2013 before last weekend, there had been a few instances involving Penske Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing at the beginning of the year for failing inspections on race day, as well as major injuries to Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart, two of the sport’s top drivers.

But last weekend topped it all off.

Everyone has seen the videos of Clint Bowyer’s radio and how Clint’s crew chief told him to scratch his arm, where he spun out on purpose in the next turn. We’ve also heard the radio for David Gilliland saying to let Joey Logano pass him to get the 22 car into the final Chase spot.

NASCAR did the right thing in sanctioning MWR and creating a 13th Spot for Jeff Gordon, but the damage is already done.
Not only has the sport’s main series been taking heat from last season and earlier this year, but the entire situation undermined the Chase for the Cup system that has been a staple to the top-tier class since 2004. The question is how long NASCAR will keep the Chase after this disaster, and if the fan support for the playoffs will start to drop.

The sport isn’t the same as it was back in the early 2000s, which I like to call my generation’s ‘Golden-Age’. In that time, you had action-packed races every Daytona 500, historic wrecks at Talladega, and drivers like Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominating the sport. And this was all before the Chase was put into action.

Since then, the sport has been slowly becoming a corrupt sport, both in terms of drivers and officials.

From the fall of DEI abandoning its star driver in Dale Jr., to multiple team changes the past few seasons, it just shows how disloyal the drivers in the sport have become.

The officials meanwhile were beginning to give out more and more penalties and fines, all the way until last weekend, where it reached its climax.

In my opinion, this whole situation has made the 2013 Sprint Cup Season a complete mess. Not only did NASCAR have to change the Chase drivers list twice, but now MWR, Penske Racing and Front Row Motorsports have a target on their backs for 2014. Every fan will look at these teams for the next few years and think, “These guys are ruining our sport every season.”

Because of these three teams, the sport’s playoff system is forever tarnished. No longer will there be as much excitement for the final 10 races of the season, as there’ll always be discussion about a certain team getting into the Chase. Even if there were a couple sanction-free seasons in a row, both the fans and media will think about last weekend’s race.

NASCAR has had a credibility issue since the late 2000s, and in my eyes, it’ll take forever to gain the reputation it used to have back from its prime. And as the only major American sport that doesn’t require physical strength, NASCAR is starting to look just as shady as the MLB and NFL is with steroids.

That’s all,

nascar163/Gamer360Sports[/FONT]

nascar163

[CENTER][IMG]http://serve.cdnzoom.com/SportsBlogcom/filewarehouse/76440/e5906c2a90929e52a747df360cd4cb7f.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]

As the month of August begins to wind down in the Majors, the Los Angeles Dodgers have become the most red-hot team in baseball. In the past month, the Kings of LA have gone 21-6, tying the team's record for any month in Franchise History. But as the LA Dodgers prepare for their next series against the Padres, there has been one link to their season that sometimes has gone over people's heads; Yasiel Puig.

Puig has become one of the main reasons why the Dodgers have been successful in 2013. Since he's been called up, the Dodgers have gone 54-21 on a team that has seen Matt Kemp miss a lot of that time. But because of his size, he's already brought himself comparisons to one of the greatest athletes of all time, Bo Jackson.

Yes, Bo Knows Jackson.

Everyone that is a real sports fan knows who Bo Jackson is. The 6’-1”, 230 lb. monster from Auburn became a superstar in two sports in both Football and Baseball in both College and the Pros, making an impact on every team he played on. Whether it was Bo hitting 450 foot home runs in Kansas City, or running at electrifying speed in the Oakland Coliseum for the Raiders, he was a legend in both the MLB and the NFL. But had his career cut short by a major hip injury in the 1991 NFL Playoffs where he would never play football again and play in baseball 3 more seasons.

When you look at the past for both Puig and Bo Jackson, they both had very different pasts. Compare the two lifelines of both of them before their trips to the Majors:

Bo Jackson: Was born in poor conditions as the eighth of ten children.

Yasiel Puig: Was born to two engineers in Cuba.

Jackson: Played for Auburn University's Football and Baseball Teams after denying contract with the New York Yankees, ended up winning the 1985 Heisman Trophy over Chuck Long.

Puig: Became a breakout star for the Cienfuegos Elefantes, hitting .330 with 17 Home Runs and 47 RBIs in 2010-11 Season.

Jackson: Lost eligibility for rest of 1986 Season at Auburn due to scheme by Tampa Bay Buccaneers to get him banned from NCAA teams and to pick Football.

Puig: Banned for 2011-12 Season due to attempts to defect from Cuba multiple times, as well as a shoplifting charge during a tournament in Holland.

It's obvious that their backgrounds are almost exact opposites of each other. While Jackson lived poor as a child and became a superstar in College, Puig was raised by engineers and was already in Pro baseball by the time he was 19-20 Years old. But the way both of them were banned from their prospective teams is very similar, as they had this one driving force that became the enemy for themselves before they started playing in the Majors. For Bo, it was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while for Puig, it was Cuba's Communist government.

Both of them needed to prove the haters wrong as well. Many scouts in Bo Jackson's time didn't think he would play in the MLB or even do well due to the amount of time he spent playing Football. But Puig wasn't even considered a high-value prospect in the first place to some teams, as according to Ben Badler from Baseball America, his reports were "extremely underwhelming."

But so far, Puig has proved to everyone that he can play at a high level this season, and that's an understatement. Not only has the team went from the basement of the NL West to one of the top records in team history, his stats have also shown signs he can be a great piece for the future of the league. So far this season, Puig has hit .347, 13 Home Runs, 30 RBIs, 24 Walks, 8 SBs, a .559 Slugging Percentage, and 71 Strikeouts. Bo Jackson had similar numbers in terms of strikeouts and power in his time, having 172 strikeouts in a season where he hit 32 home runs. Both of them also get mad in a way that is noticeable on the field every strikeout.

Now Puig isn't smashing bats over his head like Bo, but his arrogant play from both good and bad plays have become a part of his style. Whether it's the bat swings on singles into left field or the emotions on his face, he has a mindset that says "I am the best in the world, and I'll prove everyone every second I'm on the field." In a way, Bo Jackson was just doing exactly that with his skill set, saying once in his documentary that he wanted to let out his anger from his past into sports.

If Puig does end up becoming as good as or even better than Bo, the odds are going to be towards him. Because of Bo tearing a vein in his hip during football season for the Oakland Raiders, his baseball career took a major hit, seeing his career numbers drop, and cutting his career short by about 10 years. Nothing like that should happen to Yasiel, so his numbers in terms of hitting could be better than Bo's.

During his short career, Bo's best hitting season had a .272 Batting Average with 28 Home Runs and 78 RBIs. If Puig was to play for about 10 Years at least, he could possibly hit .300-310 with at least 20 Home Runs a year if he hits in the 2 Spot for the Dodgers. As for awards and All-Star votes, that's all in his hands.

Bo Jackson during his short career in the Majors saw him win the 1989 MVP Trophy with the Royals. If Puig keeps up his great play during the rise of his career, he will definitely win a few MVP trophies, and maybe a couple of gold gloves that Bo never was able to reach. He definitely has the potential to do that if it comes down to it.

Now there's no chance Yasiel Puig will be playing football anytime soon, and all these ideas are just speculation, but if he was to mess up his career by taking PEDs or betting on baseball (had to go there), then you can all say the only way he got as big as Bo Jackson was because he cheated in Cuba. If not, then he's the greatest athlete since Bo, and the Dodgers found a hidden gem.

Thanks for reading,

nascar163/Gamer360Sports/Justin Prince

@JustinPSports

nascar163

[CENTER][IMG]http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/3115.png&w=350&h=254[/IMG][/CENTER]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"] The New York Yankees are considered one of the greatest teams in all of sports. With 27 World Series Titles and 40 AL Pennants, the Bronx Bombers are always a threat in the American League, no matter how bad the team is. But something that has been lingering this season for the club has been something that was kicked forward this year; Alex Rodriguez.

Alex Rodriguez, or AROD as he’s called by everyone that watches baseball, has become a walking sideshow that everyone in the media wants to talk to. Every day now, there’s some new story about how AROD thinks the Yankees hate him, or how he’s seen doctors over so-called Quad Strains, just trying desperately to play. But right now, Alex has put himself into a bind so large, that he’ll never break free, thanks to the Biogenesis case in Miami.

You guys know all the stories that happened with steroids before 2013, and how AROD tested positive in 2003. You know how he never got punished thanks to a loophole in the MLB Players Agreement back then. And we certainly know he admitted it in 2009, 6 years after the positive test. During 2001-2003, he loaded up on PEDs and Steroids with the Texas Rangers. He numbers? 52, 57, and 47 Home Runs. That was how effective they were during those years. And the MLB let it slide because of the contract.

Back then, you could get away with steroids for years, and never get punished, or even affected by them. We saw guys like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa fighting for the HR Record Books, Barry Bonds slam everything out of the ballpark, even smashing windows, and we saw Roger Clemens pitch game after game with perfection. But, all of those storylines would go down the toilet bowl, along with their Hall of Fame chances, thanks to PEDs and Steroids.

But something to realize is that AROD is just like them. After that first positive test where he got away with using Steroids, he was almost caught again in 2010, and in the Biogenesis case. In 2010, he almost got caught for seeing Dr. Anthony Galea. According to Galea, he only gave AROD anti-inflammatories (Yea Right...) and that was it. When a doctor is known for giving guys PEDs and Steroids daily to guys such as Santana Moss and others, you know something is up. After all, Galea had been caught a couple times at the border with the drugs.

And now, there’s today. AROD once again has been caught for a third time with the Biogenesis scandal. That would make it the third time he’s been involved with PEDs, either with doctors, or admitting it himself; an automatic ban for life in MLB’s eyes. But it isn’t the fact he was on the lists for PEDs, it was what happened afterwards.

According to reports, before Dr. Anthony Bosch cooperated with the MLB about his involvement with the clinic, he tried to pay AROD to not speak about it. Of course, AROD said no, not trying to get into more trouble, but the fact that Dr. Bosch went to him to keep himself quiet shows something. How much involvement did Rodriguez have with him? How many times did he see him? And, most of all, why him? It was obvious AROD was a major part of the clinic’s business, just with him trying to pay him off.

And now, the past month has been a roller-coaster for AROD, so much so that he’s now a walking storyline. Every day now, he’s complaining about how the Yankees don’t want him to play, or how he’s healthy as can be. But he put himself into this mess for a reason, and he and the Yankees know it.

The first sign of this was when AROD told the media he thought the Yankees didn’t want him to play this season. Of course, GM Brian Cashman denied this at the time, and this started a firestorm for the rest of the season so far. When the Yankees finally gave AROD a rehab assignment, he claimed everything was fine for the time being. But, of course it wasn’t. He was lying right through his teeth as he usually did.

Now the past few days have been the most important to just suspend AROD now, instead of later. First, the Yankees reported that Alex had a Grade 1 Quad Strain on the last day of his rehab. That sounds kind of fishy don’t you think? But then, AROD turned around and called a doctor in the middle of the night, had him look over the MRI for his Quad and he said he was ‘perfectly fine.’

The doctor he called was Dr. Michael Gross from New Jersey. But something that came up in my eyes was the second paragraph in an article on ESPN:

As part of the report filed by the state's attorney general, Dr. Michael Gross failed to "adequately ensure proper patient treatment involving the prescribing of hormones, including steroids" at the Acting Center for Health & Wellness. (Via ESPN, Para. 2)

The doctor he called had gotten in trouble back in February for letting one of his employees improperly give steroids to someone. It has to be a coincidence right? I don’t think so in a million years. It’s obvious AROD knew his involvement with PEDs, and might’ve gone to him too if he didn’t get caught in Miami. Right now, all the dots are connecting for AROD, showing every sign of him trying to sneak more money out of the Yankees before he’s banned for life.

But here’s something to think of; Ryan Braun could be just like him. Like AROD, Braun was a part of the documents from the clinic. But he pulled a simple deal with the MLB to avoid a lifetime ban, only getting banned for 65 games instead, or the rest of the 2013 Season. But here’s something to also think about; he got caught back in 2011, and got away with it. Braun snuck away with the 2011 NL MVP Trophy over Matt Kemp, who beat Braun in every hitting stat that year. And, like AROD, he was caught after the season. But with the new rules in place, Braun could’ve been suspended for 50 games to start the 2012 season. Of course though, Braun had a loophole; the DNA Sample.

Back then, if you can all remember, Braun’s sample was stored in a fridge at the tester’s home for three days, due to the UPS Store being closed for a holiday. And because of that, Braun challenged the suspension, and won. He knew if he could find a loophole, he’d be able to keep using PEDs without any trouble. And of course, he did, until this season.

Now as we’re entering another weekend of baseball, hotdogs and fun, AROD is already on his way to being gone from the MLB. If he doesn’t get the lifetime ban by the end of this season, then it’s obvious this crisis could get out of hand. AROD has been caught with incidents involving PEDs, and most recently, calls to doctors that are against the CBA with connections to PEDs, and obviously plans to do it for the rest of his life. He’s a crook, a cheater, and a steroid pusher. And most of all, he only cares about money, and how PEDs could get him even more.

That’s all,

nascar163/Gamer360Sports
YouTuber[/FONT]

nascar163

[CENTER][IMG]http://gyazo.com/da554638c79938fabc1f16801dd03d58.png[/IMG][/CENTER]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]As I woke up this morning from what had been a rough night, I decided to jump onto my Xbox 360 to play something that I loved; NCAA Football 14. But then I realized something that had been bothering me about the game’s most popular, brand-new mode; NCAA Ultimate Team is a cash grab. An absolute cash grab.

Many people were excited when EA Sports announced this ‘new mode.’ Heck, even I was excited. I thought because of the way EA had designed the mode on paper, that it would mean the end of the stacked teams that plagued Madden Ultimate Team and Fifa Ultimate Team. Now, both of those modes were complete cash grabs, as the game almost made you spend money to get better. For example, a new team building themselves up with coins on MUT would most likely be paired up with a 99 Overall guy who bought 50 Packs 10 minutes before. Of course, you know how fun that would be. I was put into that situation a few times, making me lose interest in MUT. But now, it’s happening again.

First, EA announced that they had struck a deal with one of the best, in fact THE BEST Athlete in Video Game History. The 6’-1”, 230 lbs. monster from Auburn that soon became a star for the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Raiders, Bo Jackson had signed on to become the biggest name in NCAAUT. Everyone that was old enough to know who Bo Jackson was freaked out, remembering the days of Techno Bowl, where you could literally run in circles. But, EA created a tragic flaw when they announced his entry; every player would get a free Freshman Bo Jackson card.

Sure, that gave everyone a highly rated player out of the package among the freshman cards that got in the starter packs. But that also meant anyone under Bo Jackson’s 85 Overall rating would be considered useless. That meant cards like the Barry Sanders Freshman Card and the Silver Pierre Thomas would be both tossed. This decision took away the separation of every team in NCAAUT from launch.

When the first early copy streams started to pop up on YouTube, many people (including me) were given a sneak peek into this ‘great mode.’ I myself watched the SGU Stream, which saw at least 500 people watch. Now, SGU, or nadasfan as he’s called by his followers, got his copy from Machinima to write the company’s review. This meant he got all the access to the game a week early.

Over the next couple days, he would run streams while he was on his vacation, showing us the new stuff that opened in NCAAUT. But it opened the looking glass to see what flaws they had. First, only the Ranked Matches and Collections worked from the Embargo date. This meant we couldn’t see how this system would work in total for the time being. The next few days though, the store and auction house would open up. And that opened something major for all gamers; you couldn’t buy bundle packs of the All-American cards without paying REAL money.

That started the chain of BS, as they had bundles ranging from 5 Packs, to 50. You could still buy a solo pack for only 7500 Coins, but the way they promoted the bundles, those meant nothing. From the 10 Pack Bundle and up you could get a GURANTEED 93 Overall or better player. By the time you got to 50, you had at least 5. The only other packs that came out were two garbage packs and a fixed Gold Pack that cost 75000 coins for guys you could get cheap on the Auction Block later. This sounded the alarm for the tone of what EA wanted this mode to be; a Cash Grab.

NCAAUT was all set by the time July 9th came around, and for the first day, it seemed fun. The teams weren’t stacked, the games were competitive, no one had crazy rated players, and there was no exploits, like it was actually fun to play an Online Mode for once. But by the evening, the bombs started going off on YouTube. The big YouTubers like WyzaNow, MrGoldenSports, and Bruce Ree got to work posting bundle pack openings, having saved at least $100 each for this day. Wyza alone dropped 5000 Microsoft Points in 8 different videos. 5000. And people loved it. He was getting every card possible to stack his team with the All-American Packs, with at least 30 90 overalls on his team at the end. He even picked up a couple Heisman cards. This again set the tone for the mode for the next day.

On the 10th, the mode turned into full cheese mode. The second matchup I had with my team (rated 70 overall at the time) was a guy with highly rated players all over. You could tell he spent money on the bundles when I saw Larry Fitzgerald, Vernon Davis, and Von Miller on his team. And he was bringing on the cheese, and throwing it hard. For the past 12 Matchups in Season Mode, I’ve ran into players who have used their highly rated players, and abused them. They found the exploits like running the Read Option with Cam Newton, throwing up lobs deep to Fitzy every time, and going no huddle to the point where you couldn’t change your defense. And this was on both the PS3 AND the 360.

By this time I was getting more and more mad, as I kept running into stacked players who tried to glitch my starters, used exploits, and glitched the systems. I was even in the middle of a rant when WyzaNow dropped $100 - ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS - on All-American Pack Bundles. And he streamed it live too. People were eating up the demand for his bundle pack openings, with Bruce Ree putting up 15 Pack Bundle videos every week, and others trying to catch up on what Wyza took advantage of.

It’s now July 23rd, and EA has made it clear; you either pay money, or you lose. They WANT you to spend your cash on them, and they don’t want you to use coins. EA wants to take your money and use it to create the future crop of NCAAUT Mega Cards that people will eat up again. There’s only 2 99’s in the mode, but I can say this; by the end of the game, there will be at least 100. The company is making it a battle of the riches versus the rags, and they are just sitting down in their thrones, leading the show.

That’s all,

nascar163/Gamer360Sports
YouTuber
[/FONT]

nascar163