Open for Business!

Earlier this morning, the NFLPA and NFL came to a deal. It was a unanimous decision by the 32 teams. The owners agreed to the proposed CBA agreement by the NFLPA. It has been over 125 days that the players have been locked out. Finally, the lockout has been lifted. After many months of arguing and negotiating, the two sides came to a deal. Free agency will start about next week. The teams will have the next few days to sign their players. Although all the stress in your life, you can at least know that football will be played next fall.

College Football Preview

The college football season is just around the corner. To get you ready, I will give you my Heisman front-runners, conference title picks, and of course, BCS predictions. My Heisman candidates may shock you a little. From out west, I have one of the most pro-ready Quarterbacks in the collegiate level. Not Andrew Luck, but Matt Barkley. He has tremendous receivers from Robert Woods to George Farmer. Brandon Weeden will try to lead his OSU Cowboys to a Big 12 Title and a BCS Bowl birth. On his drive to be a Heisman threat, he will have a lot of help with receiver Justin Blackmon. After an amazing Freshmen season, Marcus Lattimore will be a Heisman dark horse. There is always Kellen Moore up in Boise. He will contend for the trophy. In the end, I think Weeden will receive the honorable trophy.

In the Big East, I think South Florida will take the crown. This division is always shaked up. The ACC will be a tight race this year. North Carolina has amazing athleticism. They will finally get that ACC title that they have been waiting for. They had amazing talent last year, but could not show it do to NCAA sanctions. The new Big 12 will be fun to watch. Nebraska and Wisconsin will battle it out with a BCS Bowl bid on the line. I think the Cornhuskers will come out on top. Out in the PAC 12, things will get rough. The North is a much tougher division. Oregon will come out alive to face Arizona State. USC cannot participate in the title game do to sanctions. Arizona State will come close to the upset, but the Ducks will come out PAC-12 Champions. They will clinch a Rose Bowl bid. The Sun Devils will be the team to watch throughout college football. The Big 10 will be exciting. There will be no championship game do to the departure of Nebraska and Colorado. Oklahoma State will just grind it out over Texas A&M to take the Big 10 crown. The SEC will be as crazy as ever. The conference is up for grabs. South Carolina and LSU will go at it for the trophy. Although the Tigers are on a 1-year probation, they will hoist the trophy.

The Orange Bowl will be a battle between Wisconsin and North Carolina. The folks from Camp Randall will be heartbroken from the Tar Heels. The Fiesta Bowl will be a matchup between Boise State and South Florida. Boise's high powered offense will be to tough to defend for the Bulls. Kellen Moore will get a victory as his final game as a Bronco. The Sugar Bowl will be a shootout with South Carolina and Texas A&M. South Carolina will get the victory. After playing lousy defense all game, the Gamecocks will come up with a stop in the final seconds. The Grandaddy of them all will be an exhilirating matchup between Oregon and Nebraska. Oregon will represent the PAC-12 well with a Rose Bowl win. In the BCS National Championship, Oklahoma State will go at it with powerhouse LSU. It will be a close game throughout, but the Tigers will pull ahead at the end to claim the crown. It will be a tremendouse ending to a tremendous season. It will all start on September 2nd.

Finale in Frankfurt

In just a couple of hours, the U.S. will face off with Japan in the World Cup Finals. The last time the U.S. won a World Cup was in 1999. The team is tired of being compared to the '99 team. A win for Japan would mean so much to the country, especially after the tsunami earlier this year. Japan has the speed but the U.S. is much bigger and stronger. I believe that it will come down to the goalies. If that is true, I think Hope Solo will have the advantage. In the end, I think that the Americans will come up on top. Soccer fans from all over will be watching when these two teams take the field in Frankfurt, Germany.

End of the Lockout?

Sources are saying that today could be the end of the NFL Lockout. The owners have locked the players out for 122 days, but today could be the day that the lockout is lifted. The two sides have made a lot of progress over the last week. On Wednesday, they spent 10 hours negotiating. Lots of players have found stuff to do in the lockout period like Chad Ochocinco and Dhani Jones. As you well know, Ochocinco tried soccer and bull riding. Jones wrote a book called "The Sportsman: Unexpected Lessons from an Around-the-World Sports Odyssey." By the end of today, these players will go back to what they love most. All of the fans are hoping that the two sides come to an agreement by the end of the day. Fans will have their eyes glued to the television to see if a deal is made by the players and owners.

Money Ball

Earlier today Derek Jeter got into the elite group of players with 3,000 hits. He nailed a homer to get his 3,000 hit. His whole family was watching in their box seats. It was great that the ball was a homer. That ball could be worth more than $25,000. Jeter got a huge standing ovation. I was watching it live with everybody crowding around the television. I am not a Yankee fan, but I was excited for Jeter. At the end of the game he had gone 5-5. Derek has been one of the best hustlers in the game and it has payed off once again.

The Buckeye State's Troubles

A year after LeBron James left Cleveland to go down to Miami, they decided to vacate wins from Ohio State's 2010 football season. The Buckeye's will not lose any scholarships or get a postseason ban. That could still change over the next month, though. They had every game vacated. The Buckeye fans in Columbus expected this. It can't get much worse from here for the Buckeye faithful unless the NCAA gives them more penalties. It looks like there still could be more to come in this scandal. It will be interesting to see how the players at Ohio State respond to this. From LeBron to Ohio State, it really has not been a good year for Ohio.

Wimbledon's New Champion

Earlier today Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal to claim the Wimbledon crown. He won the match in 4 sets. This was his 3rd Grand Slam. Nadal is now 10-3 in Grand Slam Finals. All three of his losses were at Wimbledon. Djokovic will be named the world's #1 player this week. This win moved Djokovic to 48-1 this year. This win is just a glimpse of what is to come in the tennis world.