The Sports Brief with Besse and Keefe

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Brandon Browner Not Impressed With Kanye West

KANYE WEST is a sucka! Everybody don't listen to Beyoncé. Second time he tried to steal somebody shine. First time it was a 15 yr old girl
— Brandon Browner (@bbrowner27) February 11, 2015

Kanye try and play that I'm weird because of my genius. Non of the greats pull that stupid ish. Meaning Marley, Mike Jack, Tupac, Jayz etc
— Brandon Browner (@bbrowner27) February 11, 2015

Peep who he tried Beck and Taylor Swift. Real tough guy. If only I could've been Beck for one night. Kanye would be rapping thru the wire
— Brandon Browner (@bbrowner27) February 11, 2015

Did we just witness the Mayweather-Pacquiao of The Bachelor?

Full disclosure: I'm in a fantasy Bachelor league and have Brit, Whitney, and Megan left. If at any point I show bias towards those or against others, this should help explain that. With that out of the way, onto the recap...

Over time, the fight game has delivered some memorable fights that have held the test of time. Ali v. Frazier, Hagler v. Hearns, Hogan v. Warrior, Eric Sloane v. Tong Po. The list goes on. And last night The Bachelor delivered reality TV's equivalent: a 2-on-1 between Kelsey "The Black Widow" Carter and Ashley "Stage Fiver" Iaconetti. But before we get to the main event, let's recap all the action on last night's undercard:

The Meltdown
Last week's cliff hanger left us with Kelsey on the floor in a hallway suffering from an apparent panic attack. While some watched it with sympathy for someone suffering from an overwhelming wave of emotions, those of us deeply rooted in Bachelor lore saw a master at work. It was Bob Ross with a paint brush, just pure artistry. Like all great competitors, when you feel victory slipping away you don't concede defeat. You fake a panic attack and buy yourself a rose. No chance Chris could send her home after that...he'd look like a prick. Put him in a no-win situation and force his hand. Bachelor Survival 101.

Yet watching it, I couldn't help but feel disappointed no one else saw the act, saw their own hopes slipping away, and went into a panic attack of their own. Full blown Penelope on SNL trying to top each other, like four girls just rolling around on the floor screaming incoherently. Everyone advances.

Rose Ceremony #1
An interesting subplot here - was it 10 degrees outside? Jade was shaking harder than Michael J. Fox and you could see other girls trembling uncontrollably as well. If that was nerves, Chris has a bigger problem on his hands. It's week 6, ladies. At this point we need to see more grace under fire. If I'm Chris, I'm looking for the chick without a rose who's barely moving, completely unfettered. Like Brady on a two-minute drive, ice water in their veins. That's who I want on my team.

But Mackenzie was the easy fall guy for Kelsey here. 21, has a kid, and has asked every weird question in the book. Not even she could've been shocked catching the axe here. Samantha had to be a tough call. Smoke show, and I can't help but wish I'd gotten to know her better. Jade summed it up best though: "Sam has had bad things happen to her too, but she didn't use it to level up (like Kelsey)." Game recognize game.

Moving On
The next week of dates takes us to South Dakota. During the cut away, Chris is heard saying "the Black Hills are the perfect place to fall in love." You serious with that shit? You ever been to the Dominican, bro? Oh yea...

We come back from commercial and Chris starts educating on all the history of Deadwood Mountain. I hate that they do this. It's like that bald, fat fuck on Pawn Stars who always pontificates on the history of every item like he legit knows it. We know how this works. You're not fooling anyone.

The group decides to confront Kelsey for being a fraud. A timeless tradition. The fact that Kelsey is a Guidance Counselor is concerning. Can't be good for the kids. But she hits us with what might be the biggest hardo quote in Bachelor history: "I am blessed with eloquence. And I'm articulate and use a lot of big words because I'm smart."

Now I won't lie, I spent Becca's 1-on-1 date watching video of the guy in LA going real-life GTA last night. I'm confident it was more entertaining, so here it is for your viewing pleasure. My favorite part is the 1:05 mark where his arm gets stuck in his baggy white T trying to pull his gun out:
Group Date
Interesting to see John Rich here. Must have had a falling out with NBC since his appearance on The Apprentice.

My favorite part of the group date was Jade telling Big Kenny how stupid she feels writing a song, so he responds by having her run down Main St. yelling "I'm going to speak my song!" This comes about five minutes after he legit told them he was willing to give them any advice he could. Thanks, BK. We may all be fucking psycho, but we're all set.

Chris' performance on the mic sums up who he is as a person. A big stiff who sucks at having fun.

And let's be honest, if he was giving out the rose based on the performance, it wasn't even close. Carly showed up to a fist fight with a TEC-9. She killed it. (See what I did there?) I would legit download her song on iTunes.

Unfortunately for her, that's not the case. Chris is so whipped by Brit he's not even ashamed at this point. Brit is sitting at the table eating dinner right now while the rest of the girls are like a bunch of puppies at her feet feeding off her crumbs. It's pathetic.

The Fight of the Century
Finally, we get to the Main Event. Honestly I'm still not sure any of us realize how incredible this really was. Ten, fifteen years down the road we'll still be talking about this, telling our kids where we were when it happened. Just tremendous theater in the Badlands...it was like Ali-Frazier in The Thrilla in Manila.

Things started out pretty slow (and awkward) with both fighters feeling each other out while Chris took massive slugs of his wine. Then things picked up when Ashley I. opened up first with a huge combination, scoring private time with Chris and spewing the dirt on Kelsey. It still baffles me the women fall for this trap. It's the "Vienna Effect". You don't want to worry about it, and you trust the Bachelor will figure it out on his own, but Vienna winning in Jake's season sits in the back of their mind - IT CAN HAPPEN. So they freak out, only to have it bite them in the ass. You'll never be the whistleblower and be the last one standing at the end of this thing. It's one or the other. And when Ashley I. dropped a dime on Kelsey, you had a feeling it was over.

But what I didn't expect what for Chris to rat her out to Kelsey. This was huge, and Chris continues to prove one thing every week: He is not good on his feet. He's awful addressing the women as a group, can't put together a coherent thought during private, intimate moments, and now he can't protect his sources. If you're still in this thing, does that make you feel good potentially being his future wife?

After Chris tells Kelsey what Ashley I. just said, she heads back to the bed and the drama is thick, Kelsey just staring her down while Ashley I. knowingly but unknowingly sips her wine. At this point it was Hogan-Warrior at The Royal Rumble in 1990. Middle of the ring, face-to-face, nowhere to hide. You could almost hear Shiavone and "The Body" Ventura..."BOOM, NOBODY MOVES".

Then Kelsey opens up and they start trading blows. This is where it got interesting. I think Ashley I. started to realize what was happening - the fact Chris told Kelsey was a sign he didn't respect. She knew her time was up. She could feel herself losing the fight with each punch from Kelsey. And this is where I completely gained respect for her. She called him out on it, and when he started to break up with her and tell her he didn't see Iowa being her lifestyle, she called him out on Brit. She was still throwing punches after getting KO'd.

Meanwhile, Kelsey sat on the bed while Ashley I. walks back towards her crying her eyes out. She knew victory was hers. She had delivered the final blow, and she got to stand back and watch the final seconds like Kostya Tszyu vs. Zab Judah...

At this point the fight had been a classic. But Chris put his stamp on it, coming back to dump Kelsey and make it an all-timer by giving us A DOUBLE KNOCKOUT.

Chris B. Harrison summed it up perfectly...

Chopper for one please #TheBachelor and the party is on
— Chris Harrison (@chrisbharrison) February 10, 2015

And with the final shot, both women still standing in the Badlands opposite each other while Chris flew away, you couldn't help but feel we'll see a rematch down the road. The "After the Rose" is the likely venue, but this could be a rivalry that carries on for at least a few more years...Bachelor in Paradise, The Bachelor Pad if they bring it back. We'll see these ladies share the ring again, and while it may never live up to their first encounter, we'll always watch remembering what we saw on this night.

Monday, February 9, 2015

NFL Combine Participants

Quarterbacks

Anthony Boone, Duke
Brandon Bridge, South Alabama
Cody Fajardo, Nevada
Garrett Grayson, Colorado State
Connor Halliday, Washington State
Brett Hundley, UCLA
Sean Mannion, Oregon State
Marcus Mariota, Oregon
Nick Marshall, Auburn
Bryce Petty, Baylor
Blake Sims, Alabama
Jameis Winston, Florida State
Bryan Bennett (throwing QB), Southeastern Louisiana
Shane Carden (throwing QB), East Carolina
Jerry Lovelocke (throwing QB), Prairie View A&M

Running backs

Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
Jay Ajayi, Boise State
Javorius Allen, USC
Cameron Artis-Payne, Auburn
Dominique Brown, Louisville
Malcolm Brown, Texas
Michael Burton (FB), Rutgers
B.J. Catalon, TCU
David Cobb, Minnesota
Tevin Coleman, Indiana
John Crockett, North Dakota State
Mike Davis, South Carolina
Michael Dyer, Louisville
Jahwan Edwards, Ball State
Jalston Fowler (FB), Alabama
Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
Todd Gurley, Georgia
Dee Hart, Colorado State
Braylon Heard, Kentucky
Kenny Hilliard, LSU
Joey Iosefa, Hawaii
David Johnson, Northern Iowa
Duke Johnson, Miami (Fla.)
Gus Johnson, Stephen F. Austin
Matt Jones, Florida
Jeremy Langford, Michigan State
Terrence Magee, LSU
Marcus Murphy, Missouri
Thomas Rawls, Central Michigan
Josh Robinson, Mississippi State
Ross Scheuerman, Lafayette
Tyler Varga, Yale
Karlos Williams, Florida State
Trey Williams, Texas A&M
T.J. Yeldon, Alabama
Zach Zenner, South Dakota State

Wide Receivers

Nelson Agholor, USC
Mario Alford, West Virginia
Dres Anderson, Utah
Kenny Bell, Nebraska
Da'Ron Brown, Northern Illinois
Kaelin Clay, Utah
Sammie Coates, Auburn
Chris Conley, Georgia
Amari Cooper, Alabama
Jamison Crowder, Duke
Davaris Daniels, Notre Dame
Devante Davis, UNLV
Geremy Davis, Connecticut
Titus Davis, Central Michigan
Stefon Diggs, Maryland
Phillip Dorsett, Miami (Fla.)
Devin Funchess, Michigan
Antwan Goodley, Baylor
Dorial Green-Beckham, Missouri
Rashad Greene, Florida State
Rannell Hall, Central Florida
Justin Hardy, East Carolina
Josh Harper, Fresno State
Chris Jones, Alabama
Dezmin Lewis, Central Arkansas
Tony Lippett, Michigan State
Tyler Lockett, Kansas State
Deon Long, Maryland
Donatella Luckett, Harding
Vince Mayle, Washington State
Tre McBride, William & Mary
Ty Montgomery, Stanford
Keith Mumphery, Michigan State
J.J. Nelson, Alabama-Birmingham
DeVante Parker, Louisville
Breshad Perriman, Cental Florida
Ezell Ruffin, San Diego State
DeAndre Smelter, Georgia Tech
Devin Smith, Ohio State
Jaelen Strong, Arizona State
Darren Waller, Georgia Tech
DeAndrew White, Alabama
Kevin White, West Virginia
Cam Worthy, East Carolina

Tight ends

Busta Anderson, USC
Blake Bell, Oklahoma
E.J. Bibbs, Iowa State
Nick Boyle, Delaware
Gerald Christian, Louisville
Cameron Clear, Texas A&M
A.J. Derby, Arkansas
Jeff Heuerman, Ohio State
Jesse James, Penn State
Ben Koyack, Notre Dame
Tyler Kroft, Rutgers
Nick O'Leary, Florida State
MyCole Pruitt, Southern Illinois
Wes Saxton, South Alabama
Jean Sifrin, Massachusetts
Randall Telfer, USC
Eric Tomlinson, UTEP
Clive Walford, Miami (Fla.)
Maxx Williams, Minnesota

Offensive Linemen

Al Bond (OT), Memphis
Brett Boyko (OT), UNLV
Jamon Brown (OT), Louisville
Trenton Brown (OG), Florida
A.J. Cann (OG), South Carolina
T.J. Clemmings (OT), Pittsburgh
Takoby Cofield (OT), Duke
La'el Collins (OT), LSU
Rob Crisp (OT), North Carolina State
Reese Dismukes (C), Auburn
Andrew Donnal (OT), Iowa
Jamil Douglas (OT), Arizona State
Cameron Erving (OT), Florida State
Tayo Fabuluje (OT), TCU
Jon Feliciano (OG), Miami (Fla.)
B.J. Finney (C), Kansas State
Jake Fisher (OT), Oregon
Ereck Flowers (OT), Miami (Fla.)
Andy Gallik (C), Boston College
Max Garcia (C), Florida
Laurence Gibson (OT), Virginia Tech
Mark Glowinski (OG), West Virginia
Hroniss Grasu (C), Oregon
Chaz Green (OT), Florida
Chad Hamilton (OT), Coastal Carolina
Jarvis Harrison (OG), Texas A&M
Bobby Hart (OT), Florida State
Rob Havenstein (OT), Wisconsin
Sean Hickey (OT), Syracuse
D.J. Humphries (OT), Florida
Tre Jackson (OG), Florida State
Arie Kouandjio (OG), Alabama
Greg Mancz (C), Toledo
Ali Marpet (OT), Hobart
Josue Matias (OG), Florida State
Darrian Miller (OT), Kentucky
John Miller (OG), Louisville
Mitch Morse (OT), Missouri
Robert Myers (OG), Tennessee State
Cedric Ogbuehi (OT), Texas A&M
Andrus Peat (OT), Stanford
Terry Poole (OT), San Diego State
Jeremiah Poutasi (OT), Utah
Corey Robinson (OT), South Carolina
Ty Sambrailo (OT), Colorado State
Brandon Scherff (OT), Iowa
Adam Shead (OG), Oklahoma
Austin Shepherd (OT), Alabama
Donovan Smith (OT), Penn State
Tyrus Thompson (OT), Oklahoma
Laken Tomlinson (OG), Duke
Daryl Williams (OT), Oklahoma

Defensive Linemen

Henry Anderson (DE), Stanford
Arik Armstead (DE), Oregon
Tavaris Barnes (DE), Clemson
Vic Beasley (DE), Clemson
Michael Bennett (DT), Ohio State
Angelo Blackson (DT), Auburn
Malcom Brown (DT), Texas
Anthony Chickillo (DE), Miami (Fla.)
Frank Clark (DE), Michigan
Xavier Cooper (DT), Washington State
Christian Covington (DT), Rice
Corey Crawford (DE), Clemson
Carl Davis (DT), Iowa
Tyeler Davison (DE), Fresno State
Ryan Delaire (DE), Towson
B.J. Dubose (DE), Louisville
Mario Edwards (DE), Florida State
Kyle Emanuel (DE), North Dakota State
Trey Flowers (DE), Arkansas
Dante Fowler (DE), Florida
Markus Golden (DE), Missouri
Eddie Goldman (DT), Florida State
Randy Gregory (DE), Nebraska
Marcus Hardison (DE), Arizona State
Eli Harold (DE), Virginia
Zach Hodges (DE), Harvard
Danielle Hunter (DE), LSU
Martin Ifedi (DE), Memphis
Grady Jarrett (DT), Clemson
Derrick Lott (DT), Tennessee-Chattanooga
Joey Mbu (DT), Houston
Ellis McCarthy (DT), UCLA
Rakeem Nunez-Roches (DT), Southern Mississippi
Owamagbe Odighizuwa (DE), UCLA
Nate Orchard (DE), Utah
Leon Orr (DT), Florida
David Parry (NT), Stanford
Jordan Phillips (DT), Oklahoma
Darius Philon (DT), Arkansas
Shane Ray (DE), Missouri
Cedric Reed (DE), Texas
Bobby Richardson (DT), Indiana
Ryan Russell (DE), Purdue
Danny Shelton (NT), Washington
Deon Simon (NT), Northwestern State
Preston Smith (DE), Mississippi State
Za'Darius Smith (DE), Kentucky
J.T. Surratt (DT), South Carolina
Lynden Trail (DE), Norfolk State
Louis Trinca-Pasat (DT), Iowa
Davis Tull (DE), Tennessee-Chattanooga
Zack Wagenmann (DE), Montana
Leterrius Walton (DT), Central Michigan
Leonard Williams (DT), USC
Gabe Wright (DT), Auburn

Linebackers

Kwon Alexander (OLB), LSU
Stephone Anthony (ILB), Clemson
Neiron Ball (OLB), Florida
Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil (OLB), Maryland
Aaron Davis (ILB), Colorado State
Paul Dawson (ILB), TCU
Trey DePriest (ILB), Alabama
Xzavier Dickson (OLB), Alabama
Bud Dupree (OLB), Kentucky
Alani Fua (OLB), BYU
Geneo Grissom (OLB), Oklahoma
Obum Gwacham (DE), Oregon State
Bryce Hager (ILB), Baylor
Ben Heeney (ILB), Kansas
Amarlo Herrera (ILB), Georgia
Jordan Hicks (ILB), Texas
Mike Hull (ILB), Penn State
A.J. Johnson (ILB), Tennessee
Taiwan Jones (ILB), Michigan State
Eric Kendricks (ILB), UCLA
Hau'oli Kikaha (OLB), Washington
Lorenzo Mauldin (OLB), Louisville
Benardrick McKinney (ILB), Mississippi State
Mark Nzeocha (OLB), Wyoming
Denzel Perryman (ILB), Miami (Fla.)
Hayes Pullard (ILB), USC
Edmond Robinson (OLB), Newberry
Jake Ryan (OLB), Michigan
Martrell Spaight (OLB), Arkansas
J.R. Tavai (OLB), USC
Shaq Thompson (OLB), Washington
Max Valles (OLB), Virginia
Tony Washington (OLB), Oregon
Damien Wilson (ILB), Minnesota
Ramik Wilson (ILB), Georgia

Defensive Backs

Adrian Amos (SS), Penn State
Detrick Bonner (FS), Virginia Tech
Ibraheim Campbell (SS), Northwestern
Alex Carter (CB), Stanford
D.C. Celiscar (CB), Western Michigan
Justin Coleman (CB), Tennessee
Jalen Collins (CB), LSU
Landon Collins (FS), Alabama
Justin Cox (FS), Mississippi State
Ronald Darby (CB), Florida State
Quandre Diggs (CB), Texas
Lorenzo Doss (CB), Tulane
Kurtis Drummond (FS), Michigan State
Ifo Ekpre-Olomu (CB), Oregon
Durell Eskridge (FS), Syracuse
Charles Gaines (CB), Louisville
Clayton Geathers (SS), Central Florida
Jacoby Glenn (CB), Central Florida
Senquez Golson (CB), Ole Miss
Doran Grant (CB), Ohio State
Ladarius Gunter (CB), Miami (Fla.)
Chris Hackett (FS), TCU
Anthony Harris (FS), Virginia
Troy Hill (CB), Oregon
Gerod Holliman (FS), Louisville
Kyshoen Jarrett (SS), Virginia Tech
A.J. Jefferson (CB), UCLA
Kevin Johnson (CB), Wake Forest
Byron Jones (CB), Connecticut
Craig Mager (CB), Texas State
Dean Marlowe (FS), James Madison
Bobby McCain (CB), Memphis
Tevin McDonald (SS), Eastern Washington
Steven Nelson (CB), Oregon State
Garry Peters (CB), Clemson
Marcus Peters (CB), Washington
Cody Prewitt (SS), Ole Miss
Damarious Randall (FS), Arizona State
Jordan Richards (SS) Stanford
Quinten Rollins (CB), Miami (Ohio)
Eric Rowe (CB), Utah
James Sample (SS), Louisville
Josh Shaw (CB), USC
Jacorey Shepherd (CB), Kansas
D'Joun Smith (CB), Florida Atlantic
Derron Smith (FS), Fresno State
Tye Smith (CB), Towson
Damian Swann (CB), Georgia
Jaquiski Tartt (FS), Samford
Trae Waynes (CB), Michigan State
Kevin White (CB), TCU
Jermaine Whitehead (FS), Auburn
P.J. Williams (CB), Florida State
Julian Wilson (CB), Oklahoma

Specialists

Will Bauman (P), North Carolina State
Kyle Brindza (K), Notre Dame
Joe Cardona (LS), Navy
Kyle Christy (P), Florida
Sam Ficken (K), Penn State
Will Johnson (P), Texas State
Josh Lambo (K), Texas A&M
Kyle Loomis (P), Portland State
Justin Manton (K), Louisiana-Monroe
Trevor Pardula (P), Kansas
Bradley Pinion (P), Clemson
Jared Roberts (K), Colorado State
Spencer Roth (P), Baylor

Thanks to SBNation.com for the complete list.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

NBA 3-Point Contest

Presenting the #FootLockerThree Point Contest Field at #NBAAllStarNYC! pic.twitter.com/z9q8piE3hM
— NBA (@NBA) February 6, 2015

Real good group. (from left to right): Klay Thompson, James Harden, Marco Belinelli, Kyle Korver, J.J. Redick, Wes Matthews, Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving