WWE Summerslam 2013 preview: Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk

Tonight (Aug. 18, 2013), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) brings Summerslam to the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif., on pay-per-view (PPV). The co-main event of the evening features former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar in a match with CM Punk.

After retiring from MMA following two consecutive losses at the hands of Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem, Lesnar entered into negotiations with the WWE. His return was a complete surprise when he showed up on the April 2, 2012, episode of Monday Night Raw to confront John Cena.

He was booked as a monster, but in his first match back, he lost cleanly to Cena at Extreme Rules. Jokes hit the Internet that Lesnar was on a three-fight losing streak. He bounced back with a win over HHH at SummerSlam last summer, winning with a kimura.

HHH got his revenge at Wrestlemania 29 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, finishing Lesnar with the aid of the steel steps. The two met for the third and final time at No Way Out, where Lesnar beat HHH with the aid of Paul Heyman, bringing his overall record to 2-2 since his return to professional record.

In terms of professional wrestling, Lesnar's latest run in the WWE has been pretty disappointing. His contract is for limited dates and after losing his return match against Cena, it's been a struggle to recreate that initial heat.

Tonight, Lesnar finds himself in the middle of a feud between CM Punk and Paul Heyman. The match has been building over the past few weeks on WWE television, with Lesnar and Punk having several very real and very physical scuffles, including one that resulted in Punk's chin being split open and needing several stitches.

The match is being built as "The Beast vs. The Best" and that's a good way to describe it. Punk is considered by many to be the best all-around wrestler in the promotion, while Lesnar's entire character focuses on his raw strength. This match has the potential to steal the show because of the physicality of the two performers.

This is by far one of the best Summer Slam cards, and one to check out. So be here tonight for live reactions and be sure to check out the play by play on Cage Side Seats and MMAmania.com's coverage right here.

Source:http://the-ufc.blogspot.com/2013/08/wwe-summerslam-2013-preview-brock.html

WWE Summerslam 2013 preview: Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk Images

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NFL Preview: NFC North

It's been a long time since I've had the ability to make a post. Before I get to the meat of this article, I would like to take a moment to thank all of the readers who have continued to visit this page in my absence. It means the world to me that I have the support that I do, and I promise that regular posts will resume immediately. Now that I have gotten that out of the way, on to the subject of this post, the continuation of my NFL season previews. In an effort to save time and get everything wrapped up before the season starts, the rest of these previews are going to take a slightly different approach, being more succinct and encompassing entire divisions, rather than team-by-team. In today's post, we jump to the NFC North division.Green Bay: The Green Bay Packers have been the class of this division for several years now, being led by arguably the best quarterback in the game today, Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers will have a harder time of things this year though, with the departure of one of his favorite targets, Greg Jennings. While the departure of Jennings is a significant loss for the team, the additions of running backs Eddie Lacy and Johnathan Franklin in this year's draft should give the Packer offense an added dimension it has been lacking for several years now, a solid running game. This should soften up defenses and make Jennings' departure less noticeable.Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings offense has been sputtering for years, despite Adrian Peterson's best efforts to take the team upon his shoulders. Peterson, and the whole Vikings organization, hope that the maturation of quarterback Christian Ponder and the addition in the draft of wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson and Greg Jennings in free agency will work to make the offense more balanced, taking the pressure off of Peterson to reproduce his phenomenal 2012 performance. The departure of an electric playmaker in Percy Harvin, however, may be a significant set-back in the Vikings efforts to make a repeat appearance in the playoffs.Detroit Lions: In what turned out to be one of the sadder stories of the NFL off-season, the Detroit Lions cut starting receiver Titus Young, who would go on to be arrested three times in the span of a month and who's career looks to be all but over. While the young man is clearly in need of some serious help, the Lions were right to cut ties with the receiver, and although it gives star quarterback Matthew Stafford one less target to throw to on Sundays, the man's mental health is of far more importance. With all that said, the Lions offense shouldn't struggle in Young's absence, especially with the off-season addition of Reggie Bush. Bush, an electric running back who comes over from the Dolphins, should open up the offense in much the same way that Lacy and Franklin will for the Packers. Add this to the historic season that Calvin Johnson put up last year and the Lions could be one of the surprise teams this season.Chicago Bears: The Chicago Bears have undoubtedly been the most consistently disappointing team in this division. It seems like every year they come out swinging, looking like a real contender, only to fade into obscurity as the season reaches an end. With all the talent that this team has, they rival the Dallas Cowboys as the most disappointing team in the NFL. A big part of that disappointment has been the beating that Jay Cutler has taken due to his porous offensive line. The addition of Jermon Bushrod should go a long way to sure up that line and keep Cutler upright to lead the team. Adding Martellus Bennett to the fray in Chicago should do wonders for that offense as well, giving opposing defenses someone to worry about other than Brandon Marshall or Matt Forte. Having a target down the seam in the middle, as well as a big target in the red zone, should go a long way towards Chicago finally living up to their potential.Prediction: The NFC North (that still sounds weird to me. After all these years, I still want to say NFC Central) should be the most competitive division in the NFL this year. I think that all four teams have the potential to go to the playoffs and make a significant run. With that being said, I think that Green Bay is still clearly the class of the division, despite not winning the division crown last season. I think they return to form and represent the NFC North this season. After that, it's pretty much a crap-shoot for positions 2-4. Even though they won the division last year, I think it's a real possibility that Minnesota ends up finishing last in this division, with the Chicago Bears finishing right behind Green Bay and Detroit finishing a game or two ahead of Minnesota for third.
Source:http://aspoonfulofsports.blogspot.com/2013/08/nfl-preview-nfc-north.html

NFL Preview: NFC North Images

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NFL Preview: New York Jets

The final team in my look at the 2013 NFL season in the AFC East is the New York Jets. Possessing what is in my opinion the worst roster talent-wise in the entire NFL, it's hard for me to imagine the Jets being anything but a cellar-dweller this year in the division. It will be a pretty big surprise to me if they don't end up with a top 5 pick in next year's draft. Their only competition for "league's worst roster" is the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars, and at least both of those teams have at least one stand-out player (for Oakland it's Darren McFadden, and in Jacksonville it's Maurice Jones-Drew), which is more than I can say for the Jets now that they've traded away their clear-cut best player, Darelle Revis, to the Tampa Bay Bucs. Let's take a look at the breakdown for the 2013 New York Jets:Key Additions: You know your team is either in a really bad situation or a really good one when your only key additions come via the draft. In the case of the Jets, it's the former. While they did address two key issues in the draft with their additions of Dee Milliner and Geno Smith, there were certainly more pressing issues that they could have addressed with these picks, and in my opinion, better players that they could have drafted if those were the positions they wanted to address. When I watched the combine, all I saw from Dee Milliner was some stiffness in his hips and an inability to catch the ball. Add to that the fact that he'd had a shoulder surgery prior to the draft that should keep him out of training camp, led me to believe (and I still do) that their were better options for the Jets at the cornerback position. Milliner will have to come in and be a contributor right away, and a spectacular one at that, if he's going to get Jets fans off his case about being the replacement to Revis. It's no small task for a rookie, and I have my doubts about whether Milliner is up to the challenge. When it comes to Geno Smith, he may have been the best of the quarterbacks in the draft, but I was never very high on him to begin with. Being a Big 12 fan, I watched a lot of Smith at West Virginia, and I never liked what I saw from him. I thought the only reason he was a first round pick was because of a relatively weak class of QB's this season, and as it turns out, he wasn't even a first rounder, falling to the top part of the second. I do not think that the Bills made a wise choice in taking E.J. Manuel over Smith, but if I had been a team looking for a quarterback, I would not have filled that position in the draft.Key Losses: The biggest loss that the Jets had this off-season was one that ultimately needed to happen. Darelle Revis was never happy with the Jets organization, and while being the best cover corner in the league, it never seemed like the organization was happy with him either. They never tried to negotiate a long-term deal with Revis, and while Revis' constant hold-outs may have alienated himself from the team and the front office, his play on the field certainly warranted being treated better than the organization did. It was time for Revis to move on from the Jets, and now that he's in Tampa with a nice new deal, I expect him to be much happier than he was in New York. The loss of Revis means that the Jets are left with a pretty bare cupboard both in the secondary and on the overall roster. Revis was clearly their best player, and with his departure, I don't even know who would hold that title now. Unless some of these rookies pan out far better than expected, the Jets are going to be a laughing-stock for years to come with this roster.What it means: As I alluded to in the introduction, I don't see any scenario in which the Jets are not the last place team in this division. Obviously I'm not going to pick my Dolphins to finish behind them. With all their recent struggles, I still think that the Bills have a much more talented roster overall than the Jets, and even with the recent arrest of Aaron Hernandez further depleting the Patriots pass-catchers, there's no way that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick let this team fall that far. I see the Jets finishing no better than 5-11 this season, securing themselves at least a top 10 pick, if not top 5, in next year's draft.Well, that's it for my look at the AFC East for next season. Come back for my next installment, as I switch both division and conference and take a look at the NFC North division, team by team.
Source:http://aspoonfulofsports.blogspot.com/2013/07/nfl-preview-new-york-jets.html

NFL Preview: New York Jets Images

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