Author: Michael

Things got personal on ‘First Take’ between Smith and Williams.
1. In the world of professional wrestling, when someone goes off script and does or says something that wasn’t planned, it’s called a “shoot.”
Stephen A. Smith and Jay Williams definitely appeared to shoot on Monday’s First Take when things got personal between the two while they were debating Kyrie Irving’s latest antics in forcing a trade from the Nets.
WIlliams seemed to believe that Smith has a personal beef with Irving and is harder on him than other athletes.

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Stephen A. Smith and Jay Williams got into a really bizarre exchange Monday morning.
The duo were discussing Kyrie Irving being traded from the Nets to the Mavericks, and the situation descended into complete chaos.

LeBron James Reacts To Kyrie Trade By Making Himself The Center Of Attention

“Stop telling us what you find interesting and just tell us what you feel. You say, [mocking impression] ‘I find it interesting.’ You always say that. Say what you saying! What are you saying? What are you saying,” Stephen A.

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Jim Boeheim is frustrated with the current state of Name, Image and Likeness. The 78-year-old head coach at Syracuse recently commanded the spotlight by standing on a soapbox to rant about the role NIL plays in the college basketball and recruiting today.
In doing so, Boeheim took aim at other ACC programs for “buying a team” and claimed that “his guys” make “like $20,000.” He also said that Jay Wright and Mike Kryzewski decided to retire from the sport in part because of NIL.

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Albert Breer’s notes on the prospects who helped themselves the most in Mobile.
The college all-star circuit is complete, draft meetings start this week for a lot of teams and the combine is three weeks away. Here are some notes we have from the last couple of weeks …
1) After Texas’s Bijan Robinson and Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs, there’s a traffic jam of running backs in this year’s class jockeying for position in the Day 2 and Day 3 mix. To that end, a couple of guys were able to make progress at the Senior Bowl.

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Travis Kelce checks in at +1600 to become the first tight end named Super Bowl MVP.
It’s Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts and then everyone else in the Super Bowl LVII MVP betting market.
The Big Game is set to kick off six days from now and the quarterbacks for the Chiefs and Eagles are tied atop the board with the best odds to win the individual honor. Historically, the award has gone to quarterbacks, much like the regular-season MVP. In recent years, however, some non-signal callers have been named MVP, like wide receiver Cooper Kupp a season ago.

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The Jaden Rashada saga at Florida came to an end last month. The controversy surrounding his NIL deal has been magnified once again. What is now the Wild West in recruiting, newly released contract information has shed light on how much the young man was going to make.
As previously reported by OutKick, the Florida collective had to pay six figures to Miami’s collective for money already paid for services rendered. The Gators were getting a quarterback that was highly touted, and in return, Jaden Rashada agreed to a monster contract with the group.

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Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
A week before Super Bowl LVII, fans around the country cast their vote for who they think will win the Super Bowl, and who they really want to win.
The Super Bowl is still a week away, but sometimes a gut feeling is the best option. Sure, there is still plenty of time for storylines, spin and flip-flopping, but at first look fans have a strong feeling as to what will happen.
With the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs both entering the playoffs as the top seed in each conference, it would seem to be an even matchup.

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The New Orleans Saints continue to plummet like the Chinese balloon shot down by the U.S. Air Force off the South Carolina coast on Saturday.
The Saints hired Joe Woods, the fired Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator, on Monday, according to ESPN. Woods’ defense finished 25th in the NFL against the run in 2022 with 135 yards allowed a game in a 7-10 season. He did have top five passing defenses the last two years, but the Browns let him go shortly after the season. Woods coordinated Cleveland’s defenses from 2020-22.

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Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai has accomplished two things this NBA season: ignore how he has financially benefited from atrocities committed by the Chinese government and make Kyrie Irving’s life as difficult as he possibly can.
Irving surprisingly requested a trade from the Nets last week and was eventually dealt to the Dallas Mavericks. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Irving’s preferred destination was the Los Angeles Lakers, but Tsai made it a “presumed objective” to not allow that to happen.

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Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim essentially said he decides his end date with the school, while others have hand-picked their successors.
As a trial balloon this week (not the Chinese spy variety), the Forde Minutes column is being subdivided for reading convenience. It won’t be four quarters like the Forde-Yard Dash, since there are no quarters in men’s basketball, but there will be two halves. Reader feedback on the new format is welcome.

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