THE USB Baseball Report: Twelfth Edition

Hi, hello & welcome to THE USB Baseball Report! I'm Steve Cook, and we have officially hit the dog days of summer in Cincinnati. Not only is the team a dog, but it's so hot...

HOW HOT IS IT?

I'll tell ya, it's so hot that some Cubs fans showed up to the ballpark & the air coming out of their mouths caused the first five rows to pass out from heatstroke. It's so hot that all the hot dog buns were toasted. It's so hot that Tony Perez was out there sweating like a politician on Election Day. It's so hot that that guy St. Louis drafted in the first round of the draft tested positive for water. It's so hot that the fireworks display scheduled for after Friday's game went off early because the firecrackers lit themselves. 

Enough of that. As you can tell, the heat is getting to me a little bit. So let's dive right into the baseball!

Will the Cubs win the most games ever this season?

One of the things about baseball is that you can't get too excited or too depressed early. As good or bad as a team might look early on, the 162 game season has a tendency of evening everything out. 2016 is no different. The Chicago Cubs looked like the best team in the history of baseball early on. The offense was going crazy, the pitching was shutting everything down, they were 25-6 and the surefire pick to win this year's World Series & possibly a few after that. People were talking about them challenging the 2001 Mariners for most regular season wins in baseball history.

Reaction: Oklahoma City Thunder Trade Serge Ibaka To Orlando Magic

When the report came out that the Oklahoma City Thunder were "shopping Serge Ibaka," I didn't think much of it. Maybe they were picking up the phone and listening to calls, but Ibaka was a core member of the team and there was no way that Sam Presti was going to trade him just to get into the first round of a weak draft. If the team was going to depart with Ibaka, they would have to get back a player that could immediately help and the only player that appeared available and a fit for OKC was Jimmy Butler and Ibaka alone wasn't going to be enough to pry him out of Chicago.

Then the news broke. Ibaka to the Orlando Magic for Victor Oladip, Ersan Ilyasova, and Domantas Sabonis (the 11th pick in this year’s draft).

Just over a week before the biggest day in Thunder history and Presti once again flashed his brass balls for the world to see.

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (Safeties - NFC)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

Safeties - NFC

32. Andrew Sendejo (Minnesota Vikings)

Age: 28

2015-16 Pass Coverage Grade: F

2015-16 Run Defense Grade: D-

Interceptions (for 2015-16 season): 1

Last Year's Ranking: Not ranked

NBA Draft 2016 Lottery Results!!!

It's officially NBA Draft time folks. That sure crept up on us, didn't it? That's probably because this is widely considered somewhat of a "weak draft". Outside of Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram, there isn't a whole lot to get excited about tonight on the surface.

Either way, you know how much we love the NFL and NBA drafts here at THE Ultimate Sports Blog which of course means that it's time once again for the NBA DRAFT LIVE BLOG! 

There may not be a whole lot to get excited about when it comes to the draft tonight, but at least you will have my smart ass comments to help get through it all. Even though it's considered a weak draft among experts, there are all sorts of rumors going around that chaos could definitely ensue tonight. You know who loves chaos????

THIS GUY!!!

So sit back. Relax. And let's poke fun at all the stupid moves every team makes and act like we are all smarter than the NBA GM's who are actually running this thing. As of right now, I only plan on covering the lottery picks, but if things go right, I might make it all the way through the first-round. Let's let it play out and see where it goes....

THE Ultimate Sports Blog's 

NBA Draft LIVE BLOG 

(Make sure you keep the page here and keep reloading for updates!)

1. Philadelphia 76ers select......Ben Simmons (F), LSU

A lot of people are high on Ben Simmons. I'm not one of those people. While I think he'll be a fine NBA player, I happen to like Brandon Ingram just a little bit more. Simmons' stock went from being a potential LeBron James/Kevin Durant type player to more of a Tracy McGrady/Paul George type and it seemed to lessen the more he played. That's not exactly something I'm extremely excited about if I'm a 76ers fan who desperately need a franchise changing player. There's also the fact that Simmons' college basketball team missed the NCAA tournament. When's the last time a #1 overall pick's (who wasn't a foreign player or a high school player) team missed the tournament? The talent is so spread out in college basketball that if you have a talented player who can be a game-changer in the NBA, your team should make the tournament....just saying. That's only my opinion though, take it or leave it. Like I said, a fine player but I think 76ers fans are expecting LeBron and they are going to be disappointed.

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (Safeties - AFC)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

Safeties - AFC

32. Tashaun Gipson (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Age: 25

2015-16 Pass Coverage Grade: F

2015-16 Run Defense Grade: F

Interceptions (for 2015-16 season): 2

Last Year's Ranking: 6th

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (Kickers)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

Kickers

32. Kai Forbath (New Orleans Saints)

Age: 28

Field Goal Percentage (for 2015-16 season): 50.0%

Field Goals Made: 1

Field Goals Missed: 1

Extra Points Made: 1

Extra Points Missed: 0

Warriors vs. Cavaliers was Hart vs. Austin

The Golden State Warriors entered the 2016 NBA Playoffs as favorites. They dazzled fans all season with their beautiful basketball. Everything was crisp, clean, and made sense. The Cleveland Cavaliers were a bit different. They were being led by an unstoppable machine surrounded by parts and pieces that didn't always mesh together.

The Warriors were a likable bunch. Steph Curry was the undersized guard who became the first ever unanimous MVP. Klay Thompson was a generic looking guy but a killer on the court. Draymond Green was the overlooked product who slipped in the draft and was hell bent on proving critics wrong. The Warriors were Bret Hart.

The Cavs weren't as likable. LeBron James was an arrogant whiner. Kyrie Irving stalled the offense and didn't get teammates involved. Kevin Love just sort of existed. The Cavs were Steve Austin.