Month: July 2026

LEBRON’S LAST DECISION IS TAKING HIS TALENTS TO THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE

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Once again the basketball world had to wait on the great Lebron James to make a decision about where he would play next season. James ended an 8 year run with the LA Lakers which resulted in one NBA title in 2020. Multiple teams were in on the Lebron sweepstakes such as the Warriors, and few of his former teams such as the Heat along with the Cavaliers. Finally Lebron calls it the last decision for his record breaking 24th season in the NBA. He will be taking his talents to Rocky Town and has signed a two year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. It was not for the money as the King gets a two year deal worth only 8 million & he made close to 53 million in his last year with the Lakers. Lebron will be trying to get his 5th NBA ring while helping the 76ers break a 43 year drought since their last title.

The last time the Philadelphia 76ers won the title you have to go back to 1983. Since that title, the 76ers have made the conference finals twice which the last one was in 2019 where the Toronto Raptors knocked out Philadelphia in a game 7. The NBA just saw the New York Knicks break a 53 year drought when they beat the San Antonio Spurs several weeks ago. Over the last several years we have seen different teams snap championship droughts. In 2019 the Raptors won their first NBA title. In 2021 the Milwaukee Bucks won their second title and snapped their drought of decades without a championship. In 2023 the Denver Nuggets won their first title ever. In 2025 the Oklahoma Thunder captured their first ever title. The city of Brotherly Love has seen their Eagles win two NFL Superbowls in 2018 and 2025. The Phillies won the World Series back in 2008. The Flyers, like the 76ers, have been in a drought from their last Stanley Cup title which was back in 1975.

Is Lebron James the golden goose the 76ers need to put them over the top? Last year the 76ers had a 45-37 regular season record and made it to the second round of the NBA post-season. The 76ers were swept by the next champions, the Knicks, that ended their season. Lebron James has won at least 1 championship for each franchise he has played for. The Lakers was in 2020. He helped the Cleveland Cavaliers capture their first title in his second stint with the organization. Then when he took his talents to South Beach, he helped the Miami Heat net two championships. James has been to 10 NBA finals and is 4-6 in those championship series. Lebron averaged 20.9 points a game last year. He played in 60 games in his final season as a Laker. He averaged 6.1 rebounds per game while dishing out 7.2 assists per game. He is still a very productive player, but he knew he had to bring his price down if he wanted a chance to get a 5th ring with somebody. Lebron has all the records and is decorated like a few Generals with the hardware he has earned playing in the NBA.

The Lebron James signing is a big move by the Philadelphia 76ers, but it was not their biggest off-season move. The 76ers acquired Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics. With Celtics star Jayson Tatum out most of the season last year, it was Brown that stepped up and had Boston landing the number two seed in the Eastern conference. Brown had his best season of his career and finished in the top 6 of the MVP voting. The 76ers also have two other talented names to throw at you in Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. The eastern conference is wide open. Boston becomes weaker. Will the Heat rise with the trade landing the former Milwaukee Buck, Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Cavaliers with Donovan Mitchell have been a threat the last few seasons. Both the Heat and Cavaliers would be sitting pretty if the last decision involved James picking them. The Knicks will also be a threat looking to defend their magical run from last year. Once again James has weaseled himself into a great situation. In James’ head, he may not be a zombie but certainly could be Michael Jordan’s six pack of rings. That may be the only thing fueling the King after he crossed off playing with his son last year with the Lakers. If James struggles and falls flat on his face, the Philly fans will let his last decision be regretful.

KANE RETURNING TO CHICAGO AFTER TWO YEAR HIATUS IN THE MOTOR CITY

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Patrick Kane never looked good wearing the Detroit Red Wings costume on the ice for the last two seasons. In 2023 the Chicago Blackhawks were in rebuild and with Kane’s contract about to lapse, they traded the hockey legend to the Big Apple’s New York Rangers. Kane was drafted number 1 overall by the Blackhawks in 2007 and was a huge part of resurrecting a franchise that was playing in the dark ages. That first resurrection resulted in three Stanley Cups. Can Kane’s reunion with the Blackhawks help this team get back to the post-season for the first time since the pandemic in 2020? This original six organization has resorted back to their old ways skating in the dark ages. This reunion could put the Indian-head back on the map as Kane could be very important with getting Chicago’s next superstar Connor Bedard to take the next step. This reminds me of when Mario Lemieux on the Penguins helped their next superstar unfold in Sid the Kid Crosby.

Patrick Kane is 37 years of age and the right winger will be playing in his 20th NHL season. This will be his 17th season with the Blackhawks in his second stint with the franchise. Kane in 19 NHL seasons is like a decorated General with all the hardware he has won wearing the Indian-head sweater. Before he was traded to the Rangers, he was ranked high in many of the Blackhawks team records. He is second all-time in points with 1,225 as he trails the great Stan Mikita who has racked up 1,467 points in his time in Chicago. Kane is 3rd on the Blackhawks list in goals with 446 tallies. Bobby Hull is number 1 with 604 tallies while Mikita is number 2 with 541. Kane is also 3rd in games played wearing the Indian-head sweater. Kane gets a two year deal worth 16 million to return to the Windy City. He may not break any of these prestige Blackhawks records but he can move up on the charts certainly. He does have a chance to break the record for the most goals scored by a player born in the United States. Kane has 508 career goals and is ranked number 4 right now. Mike Madano is number 1 with 561 career goals. That would be very cool to achieve that record in a Blackhawks uniform. Last year with the Red Wings, Kane scored 16 goals but dished out 41 assists in 67 games. In his late 30’s he has been very productive still on the ice.

We don’t know how many teams this off-season expressed interest in Patrick Kane’s services. It seemed like it came down to two teams: Blackhawks and Kane’s hometown team, the Buffalo Sabres. You could easily put your money down that Kane was going home to play for the Sabres for a few reasons. Playing at home in front of family and friends. The other reason is the Sabres were the better team last year as Buffalo went deep into the post-season. If Kane signed there, would he have been the X-factor of helping his home team get to the Stanley Cup finals? Buffalo may be a few players away from getting that far. Then why the Blackhawks? Kane has spent 16 years in Chicago. I’m not sure if Kane resides in Buffalo during the off-season. He may certainly visit Western New York. Kane has spent many of his adult years in the city of Chicago. He definitely has ties to the city and not just playing hockey. He knows the organization very well. He may have never really wanted to leave in the first place. At the time, the Blackhawks really had no choice trading him. How the front office failed to build a few more solid teams around Kane leaves you scratching your head.

Connor Bedard is only 21 years of age and has been in the league for three seasons. Bedard was drafted number 1 overall. Patrick Kane was a young pup when he started playing for the Blackhawks. Right there you have things in common. Kane had Jonathan Toews to lean on with a few other veterans when he first came into the league. The Blackhawks have added veterans and are still in the midst of developing the younger core they have assembled after many dreadful years of hockey and being awarded with high draft picks. The Blackhawks were streaky last year. They had some stretches where they looked like a post-season team. Adding a veteran like Kane should help this team get closer to post-season or get into post-season as a wild card team. The fact that Bedard lobbied for the signing of Blackhawks legend Kane shows you he wants to win. I truly believe Kane was a wild child at Bedard’s age and having Toews somewhat kept him in check. Bedard does not seem to be the party animal like the Kaner. Kane’s everyday approach to the game and wisdom should rub off on Bedard. In the future it may be Bedard who breaks all of Kane’s old records as the Blackhawks signed him to an extension keeping him here in Chicago for years to come. Bedard and Kane may not win a cup together in the next two seasons. Kane’s presence and seeing how the Blackhawks crowd treats him like a rock star will be something Bedard will crave. Down the road Bedard may have Kane’s eye of the tiger and score that deciding goal like Patrick did to seal the deal versus the Flyers in that first Cup he helped win with that dynasty. WELCOME BACK KOTTER!! The Blackhawks sweathogs need you most definitely to help them grow.

PATRICK KANE COULD GO HOME OR GO HOME AGAIN

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I feel like Patrick Kane is like the alien E.T. ready to phone home after three seasons of playing in Detroit with the Red Wings. However where is home for the 37 year old right winger? Is it where he was born and raised in Buffalo, New York? Could he be the missing piece wearing the Sabres sweater to get Buffalo even deeper into the post-season? Perhaps even the Stanley Cup finals. Kane could also go home to the team that drafted him in Chicago in 2007, number 1 overall. Kane wore the Blackhawks sweater for 16 seasons and helped Chicago win three Stanley Cups. The last three seasons in Motor City, Kane has been productive, but the Red Wings still did not make the post-season. Now as a free agent he has some interesting choices for his 20th season in the NHL.

Patrick Kane last season with the Red Wings only scored 16 goals after two previous seasons in Detroit notching at least 20 or more goals. Kane did dish out 41 assists to give him 57 points for the season, so he is still a productive player. He also played in 67 games last year for the Red Wings, so he also has been durable. Kane’s hockey resume is impressive overall throughout his 19 year career. He has lit the lamp 508 times. He has racked up 892 assists for 1,400 points in 1,389 regular season games in the NHL. He could hang up the skates for good right now and still be a first ballot Hall of Famer. Could he still be hanging on for another Stanley Cup? He may be seeking the goal record for the most goals ever by a player in the NHL born in the U.S.A. Kane’s 504 goals is 4th all-time in the NHL for a U.S. born player. Another former Blackhawk, Jeremy Roenick, is 3rd all-time with 513 goals.

Then in second is Keith Tkachuk with 538 goals. If Kane has a great season coming up, he could be in the number two slot by the end of the 2026-27 season. Mike Modano is number 1 with 561 goals. This record Kane could get if he plays three more seasons, by my estimate.

The Buffalo Sabres broke a 14 season post-season drought this season. They eliminated the Boston Bruins in round 1 of the Stanley Cup post-season. In round two they fell to the Montreal Canadiens in a series that went all the way to game 7. The Sabres have a ton of talent on their roster. However once again money was the issue in keeping one of their most important cogs that helped this Sabres machine run smoothly on the ice, in right winger Alex Tuch. The Sabres had to trade Tuch to the Washington Capitals to get something for him. Tuch got his pay day with the Capitals and will team up with the NHL’s all-time scorer Alex Ovechin for one more run at the cup for the Russian who getting up there in age. The Sabres almost had a deal with the Jets for their star goalie Connor Hellebuyck. Both sides could not agree on a deal right before the NHL draft. Rumors have it that a deal could still happen between these two franchises. If the Sabres do land the services of Hellebuyck, with the core they have they for sure are a team that could go once again deep into the post-season. With a homecoming for Kane he would be a nice replacement for Tuch and could give this Sabres machine the juice it needs to get to the finals. Kane could come cheaper. Kane’s post-season experience and magic certainly would be the X-factor. Playing in front of the home crowd where you grew up has to be something special.

The other homecoming would be in Chicago where Patrick Kane is treated like a rock star in the Windy City. The last time the Blackhawks made the post-season was the 2019-20 season. During the pandemic, the NHL expanded the post-season and Chicago qualified to the final sixteen after making the 24 team format. They dispatched the Edmonton Oilers in the qualifying round. The Blackhawks are trying to build something around their new superstar Connor Bedard. Adding Kane to the mix in Chicago does not get this franchise an automatic bid to the post-season. Right now the Blackhawks are making some solid improvements building around Bedard but not enough to bring in Kane. Coming back to Chicago would equal out to playing the last three seasons in Detroit. Close, but they still missed the post-season by a handful of games. Kane ranks 2nd in points and assists on the Blackhawks franchise all-time lists. He ranks 3rd in franchise in goals as well. Heading back to Chicago he could certainly move his name up those charts.

The Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin wants out of Detroit. Larkin is even a Michigan native and wants to be traded to a few contenders he has handpicked. Knowing that news, the chances are very good that Kane will no longer be wearing a Red Wings sweater. I’m sure Kane will have other NHL teams besides Chicago or Buffalo interested in his services for next season. He may not want to go home again. He has that legendary status in Chicago already. Being an older player, you don’t want to taint your play and your name at the end of your career where you had all your success. Perhaps not signing with the Sabres prevents the hometown team fans seeing the aging process right in front of their eyes. If you go home again, you want to show them that you can contribute and help your team win games. I honestly think Kane has some gas left in the tank and could help the Sabres and the Blackhawks. He also could help another team as well. If the Hurricanes, or the Stars, or some of the other powerhouses come calling for Kane’s services, a homecoming will not happen.

COULD LEBRON JAMES JOIN FORCES WITH SETH CURRY AND THE WARRIORS?

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Is another dream team being formed right in front of our own eyes this off-season in the NBA? It did not take Lebron James very long to make a decision this go around as he informed the Lakers he’s taking his talents elsewhere. The King James is a free agent so we are expecting an hour long show on ESPN to tell us where he will be playing basketball next year. Some of the NBA experts think he should go back home and suit up for his third stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers have done fine without James. Could he be the final piece of the pie of Cleveland to get them back in the NBA finals? The biggest rumor out there is the Golden State Warriors have interest in signing Lebron James’ services. Once upon a time ago sworn enemies of Seth Curry teams were facing James teams in the NBA finals & that has happened 4 times. Now pairing Curry and James together sounds like the Warriors are bringing King Kong and Godzilla together to retake the NBA from the youth gone wild on the hardwood floors.

Lebron James is 41 years of age and will be returning for his 24th NBA season which is Tom Brady-like on the football field in his career. Lebron played with son Bronny James last year as they were teammates in the NBA playing as father and son on the Lakers. You can cross that off the bucket list. Lebron has all kinds of NBA records to himself. Most games played. He became the all-time leading scorer breaking Kareem Addul-Jabar’s record of most points all-time. He broke a pair of Michael Jordan’s records of most post-season wins and post-season scoring record. However he does not have Air Jordan’s six pack of championships. Lebron has played in 10 total championships and has won 4 of them. He won a pair with the Miami Heat in 2012 & ’13. That’s when he left Cleveland the first time and took his talents to South Beach. Then in his second stint with Cleveland in a wild NBA final, Lebron rallied his team against Seth Curry and the Warriors being down in that championship series in 2016. Then he helped the Lakers win another championship during the pandemic year of 2020. He has 4 championships and Curry has 4. It would be a long shot for James to get three more to break Jordan’s record of six. Two would be very hard as well. Going to Golden State maybe he has a shot for one more title at his age.

The last time the Golden State Warriors were in the NBA finals was in 2022 when they won their 4th championship. Seth Curry’s Golden State Warriors have been to 6 NBA finals as they won 4 titles in a group that is a legit dynasty. The Warriors have beaten Lebron-lead teams three times out of four in the NBA finals. Steve Kerr is still the head coach of the Warriors. Draymond Green is still the Warriors power forward. Green is still playing at a high level with his long tenured teammate, Curry. The splash brothers have been split up as Klay Thompson just finished his second season with the Mavericks. Has Jimmy Buckets, aka Jimmy Butler, wore out the welcome of another franchise? Butler has had some injuries in the last two seasons with the Warriors. It seems like Butler did not have the best finish to last regular season as the Warriors missed the post-season. In 2025 the Curry Butler dynamic duo went all the way to the Western Conference finals to end up losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves. What will happen to Butler if Lebron joins the team? Does he stay or does he go?

When Lebron James had his hour special and made the decision to take his talents to South Beach, he also persuaded free agent Chris Bosh to join him. Bosh played for the Raptors and signed with Miami to play for the Heat and Dwayne Wade to form the big three in their line up. It was a master plan that won two championships. For the Warriors, the plan may be to sign James and trade away Jimmy Butler. Then contact the Washington Wizards to pry away Lebron’s former Lakers teammate, Anthony Davis, who was traded there from the Mavericks. Rumor has it Davis does not want to play for the Wizards. As you remember, Davis won a title with Lebron in the 2020 season playing in LA for the Lakers. Lots of dominoes have to fall to get all this aging talents to the Bay.

Think about if the Golden State starting line up next year is Seth Curry, Lebron James, Draymond Green, Anthony Davis, and the 5th player right now is unknown. My first thought is ratings, ratings, and then ratings. Like location, location, location they say for starting your own business. This line up is an aging dream team line up. Maybe five years ago this line up would rule the NBA. A few injuries and lack of bench play because you invested too much money into this line up could easily derail your season. Imagine fitting James and Davis on the Warriors roster; you have to get rid of Jimmy Butler and perhaps a few other guys. Your depth on your roster will dwindle as you have to pick up cheap alternatives to help the roster. Which may be guys also on their last legs. Curry and James helped the U.S. team win the gold medal playing together in 2024. That seems like a long time ago in basketball years which equals to dog years.You may not find a quick chemistry with all these guys. Sure Davis and James have played together. So has Curry and Green. Not all 4 of these guys and the player named later in the starting line up have. The Warriors will gobble up television ratings with this group. I think this group could make the post-season as well. I think the day of getting all these aging superstars together are over in the NBA. The red rover game calling, “Let Jimmy come over.” Which is a good thing. You are seeing more teams build through the draft and become very successful doing so. If only the NBA could add defense into their game. Maybe play the game of basketball instead of chucking up threes every possession. Not calling a foul if a player sneezes would be better entertainment than getting the retirement home on one roster expecting them to pull off the miracle in beating the younger talent of the NBA half their age group.

NO JUICE WILL BE SERVED AT THE BILLS’ NEW STADIUM

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The Buffalo Bills will be playing at a brand new spanking facility this upcoming season. The new Bills stadium will still be named Highmark stadium which cost 2.1 billion dollars to construct this new facility that is across the street from the old building. The Old Highmark stadium is being bulldozed which is already underway. Left under the rubble will be one of the Bills most famous running backs not named Thurman Thomas. All the Bills greats from the old stadium will be honored at the new stadium like nothing ever happened except one name. The Juice. OJ Simpson will be a ghost of the past when it comes to his old team moving into a new home. You can’t erase the past. However you could erase him from your new building which many thought they should have done a long time ago when the Bronco was in motion and the gloves did not fit in the 1990’s. When Juice was suddenly not a healthy choice in Western New York anymore. The Bills X running back created more black clouds above their skies which lingered for decades. Now the Bills leaders have finally got rid of a stain on the franchise that Simpson caused murdering two people and getting away with it.

OJ Simpson was the oil and gasoline of the Buffalo Bills on the field during the 1970’s. Simpson was drafted by the Buffalo Bills number 1 overall in the 1969 NFL draft from USC. He played 11 seasons in the NFL of which his first 9 came in wearing a Bills uniform. His last two seasons he went back home to the west coast and suited up with the 49ers. From 1969-1977 he made a name for himself on the gridiron playing professional football after a very solid college career. In 1973 he became the first running back in the NFL to rush for over 2,000 yards in one season. He was a 6 x Pro-Bowler. He made 5 first All-Pro squads in his 11 year career. He played in 135 games and ran the ball 2,404 times and tallied up 11,236 rushing yards. He averaged 4.7 yards per carry and scored 61 rushing touchdowns. He was a 3x AFC MVP. He was the first inducted member of the Bills Wall of Fame at the old stadium. They called it the Wall of Fame and his name was there for a reason. His play on the field eventually earned himself a trip to Canton as he made the NFL Hall of Fame.

Then in 1994 Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death. OJ Simpson now became a person of interest. Everyone was glued to their television set when OJ tried to make a run for it in his white Bronco with his best friend. Which set up one of the slowest ever police chases of all-time. Then in 1995 Simpson was charged with murder for what he did to his X-wife Nicole and Mr. Goldman. When you have money you can hire the dream team table of lawyers which the Juice did. His trial drew a larger audience than he ever saw on the football field. It was a world wide trial of people wanting to know what would happen next. What happened was Simpson was acquitted of all charges & that put plenty of dark clouds on America’s justice system. A trial that prosecutors botched big time. Simpson was a free man. But two years later his bank account all of a sudden dried up as he lost the civil court case that cost him 33.5 million dollars. The civil court claimed he was liable for wrongful death. In 2007 Simpson would be arrested in an arm robbery along with kidnapping charges with several accomplices. He claimed he was trying to get back his sports memorabilia that was stolon from him as he broke into a hotel in Las Vegas. In 2008 he was locked up. He served only 9 years in prison as he was once again a free man in 2017. Simpson would die of cancer in 2024 at the age of 76.

The Bills President of Business Operations, Pete Guelli, said, “We have an organizational decision that he is not fit to display inside our new stadium and family circle.”

The family circle will be all the Bills legends outside with three gigantic bison statues that will be open all year round.

Inside, other players on the Wall of Fame will be in the new stadium except OJ Simpson. No Juice. Just tall boys of Labatt Blue. Inside the new stadium will have history of all those great teams in the 1990’s with the 4 Superbowls in a row in that decade. Then other seasons that were memorable.

OJ Simpson had it all. He was a side line reporter for the NFL after his playing career concluded. He was a pitchman for Hertz car rental. He was a Hollywood movie star starring in all three of the Naked Guns.

Simpson was a guy that was liked on those commercials and movies. The fans in the NFL liked his insight on the sidelines of games he covered. He had a dark side and that is what came out years later.

OJ Simpson will always be one of the Best Buffalo Bills running backs of all-time. When he played the game on the gridiron, he did not have that dark side. He had a knack and the athleticism to run the football well on the field. He may have played with an edge. He had that friendly personality that fans loved after the games. Those were dark days of your franchise because the team did not win a ton of games like they do now in present day. He was a bright spot in those dark days that turned into a problem when he stabbed his X-wife and Ronald Goldman. Murderers should only be on the walls of the post office as a wanted person dead or live by the law. You have to protect the youth and not glamorize an athlete who committed double homicide. If you call something Family Circle, no way you should have OJ’s face on that. The Bills should have removed OJ from the old stadium . They let it linger. It’s better to leave OJ’s memories there. The Bills did not win any Superbowls in the old facility that had OJ on the wall. It’s a new beginning. The Bills are making the smart decisions to hopefully create more sunshine above Highmark stadium and disburse those dark clouds to New England.