7/27/2012- Review of Raw 1000, Yankees def Mariners 2 out of 3, Nationals sweep Mets, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great week this week. This was a historical week as WWE celebrated it's 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw, Ichiro Suzuki was traded to the Yankees, Jeff Otah traded to the Jets "in principle", and many more. Also, NFL teams have started training camp. More will be shared as you read along. Here we go!
WWE
This past Monday on Raw was the 1000th episode of Raw. Stars from the past and present showed up such as DX, Brock Lesnar, The Rock, Bret Hart, Lita, Trish Stratus, and many more. Out of all the alumni, only The Rock and Lesnar had more of an impact since Lesnar and Triple H will fight at SummerSlam, and The Rock inserted himself into the WWE Championship picture. Here are all of the highlights from Raw 1000.

To summarize all of this, DX reunites, Daniel Bryan get's stood up at the wedding, AJ becomes Raw GM, The Rock declares he will face the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble, Triple H vs Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, John Cena was unsuccessful in cashing in Money in The Bank, and finally CM Punk attacks The Rock at the end of the show, turning heel in the process. Here's a backstage fallout after Raw ended.

Here's an exclusive video from WWE.com featuring the two ladies who revolutionized the women's division at the turn of the 21st century in a backstage interview after Raw 1000.

MLB After a heartbreaking 4 game loss to the Oakland Athletics, the Yankees traveled to Seattle to face the Mariners in a 3 game set. However, before the start of the series, the Yankees acquired Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners in exchange for 2 prospects.The Yankees won on Monday, lost on Tuesday, and won on Wednesday. The Mets on the other hand lost another 3 games to the Washington Nationals. Once the Mets traveled to Arizona, their losing streak came to an end. The Yankees will be home to face their division rival, Boston Red Sox this weekend, while the Mets will continue their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix. NFL The 2012 NFL season is about to start. And that means that all 32 teams reported to training camp to prepare for the season. The NY Jets are already in Cortland, while the NY Giants are in Albany. Even though Giants QB Eli Manning is Super Bowl Champion, Jets QBs Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow are being talked about the most. I feel the reason why is because the media "loves to hate" the Jets, and will do anything to rip them apart. Now, I don't plan on ripping anyone apart because one, I am a fan of the Yankees and the Jets. However, my main goal for being a sports blogger is to not offend anyone. Even though I won't speak anything insulting to the Mets or the Giants, I do tend to speak more about the Yankees and Jets. That's all I have to say for now. Have a good weekend! -NYCKNP

7/23/2012- Preview of Raw 1000, UFC 149 results, Bellator 72 results, Athletics sweep Yankees, Dodgers sweep Mets

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great weekend this weekend! As you may know, tonight is the 1000th episode of WWE's flagship program, Monday Night Raw. Here's a preview of what to expect for tonight, as well as a recap of what happened over the weekend. Here we go!

MLB
If you are a New York baseball fan, chances are you thought this was the worst weekend in baseball. That is true as the Yankees got swept by the Oakland Athletics in 4 games, and the Mets got swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 3 games. Yankees fans are still spared in division standings as they still remain in 1st place of the AL East. However, Sunday's loss was worse for the Mets as they have fallen below .500 for the 1st time this season. As Sunday Night Baseball analyst Terry Francona said, "The Mets need help in the bullpen".

This week, the Yankees travel to Safeco Field to face the Seattle Mariners in the last part of their West Coast trip. For the Mets, they will host the Washington Nationals in a 3 game set, before heading to their own West Coast tour this Thursday.

Bellator
The 2nd part of the Bellator Summer Series took place last Friday as Bellator 72 emanated from the USF Sun Dome. The event aired on MTV2 and Epix. Here are the results from the main card:

• Marius Zaromkis def Waachiim Spiritwolf via split decision
• Attila Vegh def Emanuel Newton via split decision
• Travis Wiuff def Tim Carpenter via unanimous decision
• Paul Daley def Rudy Bears via TKO at Round 1
• Karl Amoussou def Bryan Baker via Submission at Round 1

Here are the highlights from Bellator 72:

UFC

The following night, UFC 149 took place at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Overall, there were 11 fights on the card. 2 streamed on Facebook, 4 aired on FX, while the rest aired on PPV. Here are the results:

Facebook

• Anton Kuivanen def Mitch Clarke via split decision
• Antonio Carvalho def Daniel Pineda via KO in Round 1

FX

• Bryan Caraway def Mitch Gagnon via submission in Round 3
• Ryan Jimmo def Anthony Perosh via KO at Round 1
• Francisco Rivera def Roland Delorme via KO at Round 1
• Nick Ring def Court McGee via unanimous decision

PPV

• Matthew Riddle def Chris Clements via submission in Round 3
• James Head def Brian Ebersole via split decision
• Cheick Kongo def Shawn Jordan via unanimous decision
• Tim Boetsch def Hector Lombard via split decision
• Renan Barao def Urijah Faber via unanimous decision to become the Interim UFC Bantamweight Champion

WWE

As you all know, tonight is the night where the 1000th episode of Raw will take place in St. Louis, Missouri. The events scheduled to take place are Daniel Bryan & AJ's wedding, John Cena vs CM Punk for the WWE Championship, and appearances from stars such as DX, Brock Lesnar, The Rock, and many more.



Even though in the video, it says next week, it's tonight since this was an old clip. Also, a message from the WWE Chairman is uploaded onto YouTube:



Don't forget. Raw starts at 8/7c on USA Network. Also, there will be a pre-show streamed onto YouTube at 7:30 to preview this historic episode.

That's all I have to say for now. Have a great week everyone!

-NYCKNP

7/20/2012- Countdown to Raw 1000, Yankees sweep Blue Jays, Nationals def Mets 2 out of 3, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a good week this week. There were a lot of events that occurred over the week, especially two of them that are beyond the sports realm. I will share what happened over the week, as well as what will occur over the weekend. Here we go!

MLB
After winning the series against the Angels 2 out of 3, the Yankees hosted the Toronto Blue Jays in a 3 game series where they swept them, including Wednesday's matinee that caused the game to end early due to rain. Meanwhile for the Mets, they traveled to Washington D.C. to face the Nationals where they fell short in the 1st 2 games, but avoided a sweep yesterday to end a 4 game losing streak.

The Yankees traveled to Oakland and faced the Athletics in a 4-3 loss yesterday. The Yanks will continue their 4 game set in Oakland for the weekend, while the Mets will host the Los Angeles Dodgers.

WWE
The 1000th episode is this upcoming Monday, and WWE is pulling all punches to make sure it gets promoted, especially from what happened this past Monday on Raw.

From these videos regarding this past Monday's Raw, Rey Mysterio made his return, as well as Rikishi making a surprise appearance. The angles heading to Raw 1000 are the marriage between Daniel Bryan and AJ, as well as the WWE Championship match between CM Punk and John Cena, since Cena announced his cash in ahead of time. This makes him the 2nd Money in the Bank winner to announce it ahead of time (Rob Van Dam was the 1st back in 2006). After Raw went off the air, WWE's YouTube channel uploaded Punk's reaction to Cena's announcement

Tonight on SmackDown, Daniel Bryan and AJ will make a guest appearance on Christian's segment "The Peep Show" for the final hype before Raw 1000. Also, announced 2 days ago, WWE will have a pre show before Raw on YouTube. Don't forget that Raw starts at 8.

MMA Tonight is the 2nd part of the Bellator Summer Series as Bellator 72 takes place tonight on MTV 2. Following Bellator 72, tomorrow night is UFC 149 where Urijah Faber and Renan Barao will face each other for the Interim UFC Bantamweight Championship. Also, former Bellator Middleweight Hector Lombard will make his UFC debut at the event. Here's a preview of UFC 149:

Outside of Sports There are 2 newsworthy events that took place earlier today. First, I will share the news regarding what happened at The Dark Knight Rises midnight screening. During the midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises at Aurora, Colorado, a shooter entered the theater and put a smokescreen in the theater. Many moviegoers thought it was part of the show at first, but once the shooter appeared, it was clear that this was not a planned act. Many people tried to escape, which led to shooter to start firing his weapon. At least 12 were killed, while many were injured. Here's a video clip about this story:

For more information, you can Google this news to get all the details.

Now to share some positive news. For those who have DirecTV, all of the Viacom channels have returned to their channel lineup, which means that all of your shows are back.

That's all I have to say for now. Have a great weekend, and stay safe!

-NYCKNP 

7/16/2012- WWE Money in the Bank results, Yankees def Angels 2 out of 3, Braves sweep Mets, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great weekend! As you may know, this is the final night that Monday Night Raw will be 2 hours long, as next week Raw starts at 8/7c to kick off the 1000th episode. Here are the results from last night's Money in the Bank PPV as well as what happened over the weekend. Here we go!

WWE
WWE's Money in the Bank PPV took place last night at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Overall there were 8 matches. 1 was aired online, while the rest were on PPV. Here are the results:

Facebook/YouTube/WWE.com

• Kofi Kingston & R-Truth def Hunico & Camacho

PPV

• Dolph Ziggler won the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match (other participants included Damien Sandow, Sin Cara, Christian, Santino Marella, Tyson Kidd, Tensai, and Cody Rhodes)
• Sheamus def Alberto Del Rio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
• Primo & Epico def Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil)
• CM Punk def Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE Championship (AJ was special guest referee)
• Ryback def Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks in a 2-on-1 handicap match
• Layla, Kaitlyn, and Tamina Snuka def Beth Phoenix, Natalya, and Eve
• John Cena won the WWE Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match (other participants included Kane, The Big Show, Chris Jericho, and The Miz)

As mentioned before, tonight is the final two hour Raw, as next week Raw goes to 3 hours. More details will be shared later this week.
MLB
After the All Star break, it was back to work for all MLB teams. The Yankees hosted the Angels at home and won the 1st 2 games, but Angels avoided a sweep yesterday. Meanwhile, the Mets traveled to Atlanta to face the Braves, and got swept by them. Not a good start for the 2nd half of the season.

This week, the Yankees will host the Toronto Blue Jays from tonight to Wednesday night, then they will tour the West Coast on Thursday. For the Mets, they will travel to DC to face the Washington Nationals from Tuesday to Thursday.


That's all I have to say for now. Have a good week!

-NYCKNP

7/13/2012- Road to October commences in the 2012 MLB Season, review of WWE Raw, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great week this week! The 2nd half of the 2012 MLB Season starts tonight, and that means all games will determine who will be heading to the postseason this October. Here's a preview of what to expect this weekend for New York baseball.

MLB
After the All Star Game where the National League shut out the American League, all the AL teams are attempting to bounce back after that loss. The Yankees will host the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim this weekend, while the Mets will face the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Here are the current standings for both New York teams.

Yankees (52-33)- 1st in AL East
Mets (46-40)- 3rd in NL East; 4th in NL Wild Card Standings

WWE
This past Monday on Raw was the go home show for the Money in the Bank PPV. And the thing is, no one cares that it's MiTB PPV this Sunday since the WWE is focused on the Raw 1000th episode. Also, it wasn't too special of an episode either. The Anonymous Raw GM returned for the night, and was revealed to be Hornswoggle. Also, the angle between CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and AJ is getting hotter by the day.

Outside of Sports

It's time that you and I had a talk about the facts of life.



Channel Disputes suck, but there's no escape. No one is immune to disputes between cable/satellite providers and the parent companies of these channels. If you don't know, Viacom and DirecTV are in a dispute, and as a result, DirecTV was forced to drop these channels such as MTV, Spike, Comedy Central, etc. Which means for the customers who have D*, they won't have a chance to watch programs such as Impact Wrestling, Bellator, or even more shows. It doesn't matter whose fault it is, the customers are the ones who are suffering.

Now why am I mentioning this? For starters, I was a former DirecTV customer. I left since the contract expired, and I needed to save money. It's a long story, but the point is that I may return in the future, and I don't want these two to continue fighting. Even though both are at fault, Viacom is making things worse by pulling all their online content, making people who aren't DirecTV customers suffer.

To keep yourselves updated, check out the website http://www.directvpromise.com/ for all the latest updates on the negotiations. Rest assured, this will be resolved.

That's all I have to say for now. Have a good weekend!

-NYCKNP 

7/10/2012- MLB All Star Game 2012 preview

Hello everyone! I hope all of you are having a good week so far. As you may know, the 2012 MLB All Star Game takes place tonight at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. I will give the starting lineup. Here we go!

MLB
The 1st half of the season is now over, and the Road to October begins tonight. The National League will be managed by the 2011 World Series winning manager Tony LaRussa, while the American League will be managed by the 2011 AL Champion manager and current Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington. Here are the lineups for each league:

National League

• Buster Posey (SF)
• Joey Votto (CIN)
• Dan Uggla (ATL)
• Pablo Sandoval (SF)
• Rafael Furcal (STL)
• Melky Cabrera (SF)
• Carlos Beltran (STL)
• Ryan Braun (MIL)

American League

• Mike Napoli (TEX)
• Prince Fielder (DET)
• Robinson Cano (NYY)
• Adrian Beltre (TEX)
• Derek Jeter (NYY)
• Josh Hamilton (TEX)
• Curtis Granderson (NYY)
• Jose Bautista (TOR)
• David Ortiz (BOS)

The starting pitcher for the National League will be Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants while the American League starting pitcher will be Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers. Whichever team wins the All Star game, that league will get "home field advantage" in this year's World Series.

7/2/2012- Yankees/White Sox split series, Mets def Dodgers 3 out of 4, preview of WWE Raw, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great weekend! As you may know, June is officially over, and we are in the month of July. Here's a summary of all the events of what happened over the weekend. Here we go!

MLB
After sweeping Cleveland, the Yankees hosted the Chicago White Sox in a 4 game series. The Yankees fell short in the 1st 2 games due to a blown save on the first night, and multiple errors in the second. However, the Yankees won on Saturday, and Sunday, which is notable since Old Timer's Day took place prior to the last game of the series.

Meanwhile, the Mets traveled to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers in a 4 game set. The Mets won the 1st 3 games, but the Dodgers avoided the sweep last night.

The Yankees will be on the road this week, where they will face the Tampa Bay Rays in a 3 game set. The Mets are traveling home today, and will host the Philadelphia Phillies tomorrow in a 3 game series.

WWE
Tonight on Raw, Theodore Long will be the guest general manager for Raw and SmackDown this week.

Tomorrow night, SmackDown will be live as a special called "The Great American Bash"

That's all I have to say for now. Have a great 4th of July this Wednesday. Enjoy the fireworks, BBQ, and most of all, have fun!

-NYCKNP