Rudy Gay and John Salmons have showed promise. Now they are taking a ride to the promise land.

Rudy Gay just signed a max 5 year contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. This deal is enormous for Memphis. By all means, this deal (along with Salmons’) are the most underrated given the 2010 superstar free agency class. Gay has been worth the money for Memphis. He is the staple of what that team stands for and what it strives to become. Rudy Gay has specific room for improvement. If he can score more PPG and grab more RPG he will be the most conveted player in Memphis for years to come.

John Salmons has been passed around teams such as Chicago and Sacramento then landed in Milwaukee. He has flourished to say the least. Along with Brandon Jennings, the Bucks are starting to come around and are building a franchise worth paying attention to these days. Salmons signed a 5 year deal worth 39 million. The Bucks should be proud that they stuck their neck out for Salmons because he is a diamond in the rough. It took John Salmons awhile to get to his potential but he’s there and the league has noticed the numbers he put up during the 09-10 season. I believe he can keep it going. Salmons proved he can be the firestarter. Well, at least sometimes. The times where he will fail (which won’t be many) Jennings or Andrew Bogut will take over. There should be no big worries in Milwaukee for quite sometime.

-Biz

The Seattle Mariner fielding great Ken Griffey Jr. has retired after 22 seasons. Knee problems have plagued Griffey during his amazing career in the major leagues. This is especially the case with the Cincinnati Reds. It’s really a letdown that his body decided to quit on him during the middle of the season.

Ken Griffey Jr announced his forseen retirement just before the start of the 10-11 season. He did the Mariners organization a favor by signing two consecutive one year deals with the club. Griffey certainly didn’t have to do this. His career was almost complete after his stint with the Chicago White Sox. Ken Griffey Jr. will forever be remembered as the elite of the elite in Major League Baseball throughout his years in the league. “The Kid” is for sure headed to Cooperstown.

-Biz

Former Yankee slugger Chuck Knoblauch pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault on his wife. The event happened in September of last year. Knoblauch’s wife claims that he hit her and choked her at their home. I thought Knoblauch had a better head on his shoulders but I guess that’s not the case. This is really sad because he had the ride of his life when he was with the Yankees back in the 90′s with the likes of Scott Brosius.

-Biz

LaDainian Tomlinson has signed a 2-year deal with the New York Jets

People are tending to blow this one off. Why? I have no clue! This is a HUGE deal. It’s huge because the competition was the Minnesota Vikings and Favre was used as a heavy recruiter in the process. The uncertainty of Brett Favre’s return I think played a critical role in the New York Jets landing Tomlinson. After releasing Thomas Jones, I thought that the Jets were doomed at the RB position because they had no foreseeable future except in 2nd year tailback Shonn Greene from Iowa. Obviously, I was really wrong. However, they need to be very cautious with LT. He is aging. This is evident by his total FAIL of his concluding season with the Chargers. He can bounce back from this terrible season for sure.

I disagree with some people who think that LT will get used as a 3rd down back that will tend to run to the outside. My opinion is that the Jets will utilize Tomlinson in every situation possible. I see this as being true because Shonn Greene is only in his 2nd year. It’s just that simple. Greene had a superb season for the NYJ but I still don’t think it’s enough to go on. He will still need to take a back seat this next year and surpass expectations once again. Since LT signed a 2-year deal this means Greene will be the backup for another season after this upcoming one.

The Jets are moving ahead in a very positive direction. Especially after having to go into an uncapped year so to speak it is looking solid for the Jets in the near future. The New York Jets can make an outstanding run in the playoffs if everything goes according to plan with no significant injuries. The fans will be screaming J.E.T.S. JETS JETS JETS until they get what they want.

Did I mention Brandon Marshall?????

-Biz

Turner has the opportunity to become the greatest Buckeye in history

What can be said about Evan Turner? If someone asked this question here is what I would say:

He is the most interesting player in college basketball no doubt about it. He fractured his back then returned to the team and became National Player of the Year. I don’t think anyone can top that. If that wasn’t enough, Mr. Turner is about to be the first Big Ten Player ever to be top 3 in Points Per Game, Rebounds per game, and Assists per game nationally. Evan Turner is a team player though. He obviously loves to dish the ball to the likes of Diebler, Buford, and Lighty. Turner is the reason why Ohio State is where it’s at. OSU is on the verge of winning The Big Ten Tournament Title and heading to the Big Dance with a #1 seed in hand. Yes, there are other teams such as Duke and Kansas State that have the ability to take the seed away from them. The exception is that Evan Turner’s ability to shoot and facilitate the basketball makes every bit of difference with his team. This can also make a difference with the tournament committee. Additionally, Turner solidified his place in Big Ten History with his last second buzzer beater against Michigan during the Big Ten Tournament this year. The committee could also look at this and understand his total impact with his team thus, contributing Ohio State’s case as a #1 seed.

When Turner was injured, David Lighty and Jon Diebler were the two guys that picked up the slack. They did their best to keep OSU on their winning ways. It didn’t go all according to plan. But what did happen is Lighty’s leadership kicked in and at the very least helped the team realize that even with Turner gone they could still do some damage. Jon Diebler was able to stay strong with his outside shooting to help Lighty out. Also, William Buford picks up chunks of minutes and contributing 15 to 20 points a contest which isn’t bad either.

It is no surprise that Ohio State could be looking to go deep into the NCAA Tournament and beating some excellent teams along the way. Ohio State deserves this opportunity in every way possible. They have worked hard and have never stopped. The 09-10 Ohio State Buckeyes with the help of Evan Turner can make this team one of the greatest in OSU history. Evan Turner can also become one of the Ohio State greats and to add to that resume, become an NCAA Champion.

-Biz

Former Chicago Bulls player, and current Phoenix Suns GM Steven Kerr does not ignore that a trade my happen before the deadline.

A player like Amar’e does not go on the trade market very often. There have been multiple teams fighting for Stoudemire’s services. He is a contributing factor without a doubt. This means he can change a team’s dynamics just by his presence. New Jersey has been the talk of Amar’e lately.

New Jersey does need whatever they can get at this point seeing that they are at the point of no return this season. Team chemistry is absent with the Nets this season. Amar’e Stoudemire can contribute to make the Nets at the very least, slightly better.

Chris Brown is back with his third album titled Grafitti. Mainly, critics want to label this effort as a “too soon” after his recent happenings. However, I think its perfect timing. It’s excellent music and it’s one of the best albums I’ve heard in awhile. The content is more involved and in detail. Instead of “beating around the bush” like his last album Exclusive, Chris Brown decided to say exactly what is on his mind.  The songs “Take My Time”, “Pass Out” and “Wait” are prime examples of this in action.

The song listing for Graffiti is as follows (Includes Deluxe Edition):

1. I Can Transform Ya (Feat. Lil’ Wayne and Swizz Beatz)

2. Sing Like Me

3. Crawl

4. So Cold

5. What I Do (Feat. Plies)

6. Famous Girl

7. Take My Time (Feat. Tank)

8. I.Y.A.

9. Pass Out (Feat. Eva Simons)

10. Wait (Feat. Trey Songz and The Game)

11. Lucky Me

12. Fallin Down

13. I’ll Go

14. Girlfriend (Feat. Lupe Fiasco)

15. Gotta Be Ur Man

16. Movie

17. For Ur Love

18. I Need This

19. I Love You (Feat. Ester Dean)

20. Brown Skinned Girl (Rock City and Sean Paul)

21. Chase Our Love

Chris displays his mishaps with Rhianna very bluntly in the song “Famous Girl”. This is one of the most surprising song on the record. He does not spare any hurt about the situation he found himself in and how he is trying to go on with his life dealing with what happened. The album hits various aspects of relationships internally and externally. It is an upgrade from his Sophomore effort Exclusive. Exclusive was an outstanding album and to top it is a definite improvement into his style of music and the effort he puts in to make a great album. Overall, Graffiti is an excellent work that combines numerous styles and personalities to convey Chris’ emotions and viewpoints.

Tampa Bay is a sad sight. I was expecting them to win at least 2 of their first 5 games. That never happened. The Tampa Bay had a pre-ranked defense of 4 which includes cornerback veteran Ronde Barber.

I think it’s very doubtful that the Bucs will win a game before week 13 versus the Carolina Panthers. After pulling Byron Leftwich and inserting Josh Johnson things have not changed. Another factor is coaching. With their rookie coach it seems as if they cannot lead the team the way they need to in order for a winning organization to be put in place. Josh Freeman is the next step in attempting to save the season. I know one man can’t alter an entire season but he can at least put them on the right track for the rest of the year and beyond.

Today marked the release of Mario Barrett’s 4th studio album. His first single off his new album D.N.A. is the song called “Break Up” featuring Gucci Mane and Sean Garrett. I have been listening to this song over and over and over for about 2 solid months. It’s an amazing song and it is catchy as hell. In fact, the rest of D.N.A. is just as catchy if not more!

Here is the track list for D.N.A.:

1. Break Up Feat. Gucci Mane and Sean Garrett

2. Thinkin About You

3. Get Out Feat. Ludacris

4. Soundtrack to My Broken Heart

5. Starlight

6. Stuttering

7. Emergency Room Feat. Rhianna

8. Ooh Baby

9. Before She Said Hi Feat. Young Chris

10. I Choose You

11. Don’r Walk Away

12. I Miss My Friend

13. The Hardest Moment

Mario’s last release was the album GO! which was released back in 2007 This album really set a tone for what D.N.A. would eventually become. “Kryptonite” was a song that I thought really lets people know that Mario was looking for lyrics that were attention grabbing. It didn’t hurt either to add rapper Rich Boy to the track to spice up the song a little bit. The song “Let Me Watch” is a song in which Mario is able to tell listeners is that he just wants to move slowly with lyrics but have a fast track in which to do so. In my opinion, “Let Me Watch” was a big inspiration for the track “Ooo Baby” off of D.N.A. The track “I Choose You” is really the only slow intimate song on the album. Why is that? I am not quite sure. However, maybe he was attempting to do a more upbeat record. His other two albums besides D.N.A. and GO! are Turning Point and Mario. His first two albums were more pop than r&b. His last two albums are more adult themed. Now Mario for sure, in my eyes, is a great artist and he will continue to make music that people enjoy listening to for years to come.

-Biz

Hello Brooklyn! how’s it going? Can I come too? Jay-Z who is a minority owner of the New Jersey Nets, is pushing for them to go to Brooklyn. He says they are looking to break ground early this December for a brand new basketball facility.Only time will tell if this actually goes through with the state of New York seeing two brand new baseball stadiums for the Yankees and the Mets. Shawn Carter must strongly market the team to land them in Brooklyn. It will not be easy. Also, with this news is tthat HOVA will not pressure his friend LeBron James in coming to his team.

He’s my friend first so I wouldn’t do that to him if we didn’t have a chance of winning [the NBA championship] because he’s going to be great,” Jay-Z said. “I want him to be great. Whatever team lands him, I want him to be great.

-Biz