On Monday the NHL suffered a scare after Dallas
Stars Rich Peverley collapsed in the bench during the first six minutes of the
game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Peverley was immediately taken to the
hospital as he was treated for a “Cardiac Event” it was later announced that
Peverley was in a stable condition. The 31-year-old
had surgery in September to adjust his irregular heartbeat. The game against
the Blue Jackets was postponed as both teams were shaken by the situation. Two-
days later it was announced that Peverley was done for the season, he will
undergo surgery again to regulate his heartbeat.
(Rich Peverley)
Image obtained from Google
Peverley is not the only athlete who is done for the
season.It was also announced on Wednesday,
that point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant was done
for the season. Bryant injured his lateral
tibial plateau on his left knee on December 17. The superstar only played six
games this season.
Image obtained from twitter @Kobebryant
Get your brackets ready because March Madness will
begin on Tuesday March 18. If you’re feeling lucky you can enter “Quicken Loans Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge.” What’s the catch? Predict
correctly the outcome of all 63 games.The
odds of obtaining every single pick are small, however the top 20 contestants
with the most points will win $100,000.
It was a bittersweet celebration on Saturday as the Philadelphia76ers rendered tribute to ex NBA player Allen Iverson as they retired his
number during the 76ers vs. Wizards during halftime show. Iverson was received
with a standing ovation.
Allen Iverson
Image obtained from Google
Later on Iverson was quoted saying “Feels good… but some part of my heart hurts because I know it's over.” Iverson was the number one pick in the NBA draft of 1996, he played 10 seasons with Philadelphia.
Reeva (left) Oscar (right)
Image obtained from Google
The murder trial against double amputee and Olympic athlete
Oscar Pistorius began on Monday in South Africa. Pistorius pleaded not guilty
of killing his girlfriend model and reality star Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius
allegedly killed Steenkamp on Valentine’s 2013 as he shot her thinking it was
intruders who had entered to rob the house. There will be no jurors in the case
it will be decided by a single judge. The South African star gained famed as he
became the first double amputee to compete in the London Olympics 2012 as he
gained the nickname “Blade runner.”
Image obtained from Google
Canelo Alvarez returned to the boxing ring Saturday night after his defeat to Floyd Mayweather in September. Canelo’s opponent was Alfredo Angulo. The fight ran for 10 rounds until Canelo hit Angulo with an uppercut and the fight was stopped due to technical-knockout. Canelo won the fight.
Canelo (right) hits Angulo (left) with an uppercut
Image obtained from Google
On Sunday, Jason Collins made history as he became
the first openly gay basketball player to sign with an NBA team. Collins signed
a ten day contract with the Brooklyn Nets.Collins debuted with the Nets against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Nets
won the game 108-102. Collins played for 11 minutes but did not score. The
seven feet tall player will wear his usual number 98 jersey in honor of Matthew Shepard. Shepard was tortured and killed in 1998 for being gay.
Collins (Right) signing his contract
Image obtained from Google
The Daytona
500 took place on Sunday as well. Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the win for the
second time in ten years. The race was
delayed for six and a half hours due to rain delay.Earnhardt’s Daytona win is the same
competition where his father was killed in an accident in 2001 during the last
lap. Earnhardt was quoted saying “Winning this race is the greatest feeling
that you could feel in this sport besides accepting the trophy for the
championship."
Image obtained from Twitter @DaleJr
Lebron James returned to the basketball court on Thursday
after breaking his nose against the Oklahoma Thunder's Serge Ibaka. James was out
for a week and made his return wearing a black mask to protect his nose.James has been asked by the league to change
his black mask for a clear mask when he plays on Saturday against the Orlando
Magic. The reasons as to why the league asked James to change his mask are
undisclosed.
The week had a slow start but it surely got
interesting. On Monday, the Philadelphia 76ers signed high
school senior Kevin Grow on a two-day contract. Grow has down-syndrome and became famous after playing
for his high school basketball team and scoring the buzzer beater point.Grow
debuted with the team on Tuesday.
It’s time to change your March Madness brackets
because no.1 Syracuse’s undefeated record was tainted with a loss on Wednesday by
Boston College. The game went into
overtime and ended with a win for Boston College 62-59 points Syracuse had a
record winning streak of 25-0.
Bryan Stow (center)
Image obtained from Google
On Thursday the two men accused for beating San
Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow pleaded guilty and received four years in
prison each. Stow was severely beaten in
2011 after he attended a Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants game. The
beating left Stow brain damaged and disabled. As his sister Erin Collins said
during court, “Brian can’t go to the bathroom by himself, he can’t shower by himself,
he has to wear adult diapers.”
Women’s USA hockey team played against Canada on
Thursday for the gold medal in Sochi, Russia. USA led the game until the third
quarter when the Canadian women made a comeback. The game went into overtime
with a win for Canada. The women’s USA team took the gold medal.
Image obtained from Google
On Saturday Ronda Rousey defended her women’s bantamweight
title against Sara McMann. The fight was over in the
first round lasting only 1 minute and 6 seconds.
Valentine’s weekend or All-Star Weekend? The All-Star
Weekend took place in New Orleans, La.Saturday’s most awaited event was the Sprite Slam Dunk contest.
This year’s participants were: Paul George, John Wall, Damian Lillard, Terrence
Ross, Harrison Barnes and Ben McLemore. The rules for this year’s contest were
different but to make things short the players were divided into teams two
teams of three, the East vs. the West.
Last year’s winner, Terrence Ross made an entrance when he brought out
Toronto rapper Drake to hold the ball for him.Then Sacramento’s Ben Mclemore brought ex- NBA player Shaquille O’neal
to sit in a throne chair as he dunk over him. However D.C.’s John Wall set the
bar as he reversed dunk over the team’s mascot. It was an undebatable win.
The All-Star weekend concluded with the All-Star game and
the usual rival East vs. West. Even though Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant was
voted to play he declined.
Image obtained from Google
Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin both each scored 38
points but it was not enough to hold back Lebron and his team the East took the
win with 163 points to 155.Kyrie Irving
was crowned this year’s MVP. This is the first time in three years that the
Eastern Conference has won the All-Star game.