On Tuesday, Aaron was lucky enough to sit down withOakland Raiders Rookie Defensive Tackle Lamarr Houston. This is a must listen for any Texas Longhorn or Oakland Raiders fan, including Lamarr talking about the following subjects...
- His unconventional route to the defensive line after being an All-State running back in high school.
- What it was like for him to come to Texas just months after the Longhorns captured the BCS National Championship
- How Texas Defensive Coordinator (And Head Coach in waiting) Will Muschamp helped him reach the NFL level
- His discussions with fellow Oakland rookie and former Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain about last year's BCS National Championship Game
- What he hopes to learn from veteran Oakland defensive tackle Richard Seymour
- How Jason Campbell has already made his presence felt in Oakland
- What Lamarr's expectations are for his new team heading into the 2010 NFL season
Is it just me, or is anybody else ready for some college football?
Between the teams, the packed stadiums, the prety coeds, Ryan Mallett's right arm and Jim Tressel's sweater vest, there are a million reasons to be excited about the start of the upcoming season. But here at AaronTorres-Sports.com, I'm about to give you one more: The opportunity to win a free copy of Blue Ribbon's College Football Yearbook, which, let me tell ya, is the ultimate preview guide in all of college football (I know it sounds like I'm trying to sell you a Juicer on a 2 a.m. infomercial right now, but believe me, this thing is legit. I got a PDF copy over the weekend, and I didn't see sunlight for two days. Seriously.).
Anyway, Blue Ribbon has given me one free copy to give out to one of my readers, and here's all you have to do to enter to win the magazine: Tell me the best college football experience that you've ever had. Easy enough, right?
I don't care what the experience was: A game you attended, a tailgate you were overserved at, meeting your favorite player or coach, taking a trip with your buddies to a big road game, spending a Saturday in front of the TV with your dog (Like me), even if you've never stepped foot inside a stadium, it doesn't matter. All I want is the details on an experience that you'll never forget, that somehow has to do with college football. That's it.
To enter, just post that experience in the comments section of this post, e-mail me at ATorres00@gmail, send me a message at Facebook.com/AaronTorresSports, get to me on Twitter @Aaron_Torres, again I don't care. Just get me your story, and get it to me ASAP. A one man panel of me will determine who has the best story, and the best story wins the yearbook.
It's July 4th. A day to be thankful for our freedoms. A day to be thankful for our independence. A day to sit on the beach, drink cold beer, get your burn on, and oogle girls who may or may not be of legal age.
So while we'll get back to sports bigger issues later in the week, it's time to just sit back, relax and appreciate everything. Including sports.
Come to think of it, here are a few reasons why I love them.
For the last couple days, I’ve been debating how I was going to attack this article.
Thursday, July 1, 2010. The start of NBA free agency. I couldn’t even tell you when my dad’s birthday is, yet I’ve had this date marked on my calendar for two years. So has every NBA fan nationwide.
Today isn't just a big story, but one which could change the NBA as we know it forever. Will the stars end up in New York? What about L.A.? Could they change the fortunes of the Heat or Nets? What about the Bulls? Are they all going to go their own ways?
But for all the talk about which guy will end up where, what this ultimately all comes down to is one man, and one question: Where will LeBron James land. Because once the LeBron domino falls, all the others will fall with it.
Which is why rather than spending the rest of this article talking about Bosh and Wade, Boozer or Amare, Dirk or Paul Pierce, I’m skipping them all. This is about LeBron.
But before we can get an answer to where he ends up, we need to first start asking the important questions…
On Monday, Aaron was sat down with Ryan McNeill, editor and reporter for HoopsAddict.com in an action packed NBA chat. While the conversation centered on last Thursday's NBA Draft and this Thursday's start of the NBA Free Agency period, Aaron and Ryan touched on a number of other subjects, including:
- Ryan's (Who covers the Raptors for HoopsAddict) take Toronto first round pick Ed Davis, and why he might have been the steal of the draft. - Why Ryan thinks the Kings may have had the best draft overall - Aaron and Ryan arguing over the merit of Oklahoma City's selection of Cole Aldrich - Aaron and Ryan continuing the argument on Golden State's selection of Ekpe Udoh - Why the Jazz were the NBA Draft's biggest loser
Their conversation continued to NBA Free Agency, where they discussed:
- Whether the Miami Heat's approach of clearing cap space and filling out their roster with second round picks is a good idea or not - What the Cleveland Cavaliers should have done differently in their attempts to keep LeBron James - Where Ryan believes all the big name free agents (James, Dywane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer) will end up
Finally, how HoopsAddict.com has emerged as one of the elite, independent NBA websites on the 'net
As weird as this may sound, my thoughts on Saturday’s United States World Cup loss actually date back over a year.
At the time, I was working with a baseball team in Alaska, doing some broadcasting and website stuff during the day, and trying to enjoy the outdoors and 24 hours of sunlight in my down time. Meanwhile back in the lower 48, everyone was getting caught up with soccer, as our American boys made an unexpected run at the Confederations Cup.
First we advanced out of group play. Then there was victory over the top ranked African side, Egypt in the quarterfinals. Next was the shocker of all shockers, our Yanks, the Americans, defeating world super-power and defending Euro Cup champions Spain. By the time the U.S. got to the final against Brazil, the whole country came down with soccer fever, and not even a 3-2 loss dampened anyone’s spirits. Before the final whistle even blew in the Confederations Cup, everyone had already turned their attention to the World Cup in 2010. On the field America would be ready. Off it, the fans believed we would support our squad with a passion similar to our European and South American friends. That the U.S. was finally ready to be a “soccer country.”
Like everything else this NBA season, Thursday night’s draft wasn’t so much a celebration of welcoming in a new group of players to the NATIONAL…BASKETBALL…ASSOCIATION (Get it? Like when Ron Jaworski calls the NFL the NATIONAL…FOOTBALL…LEAGUE?? Get it? Copyright Aaron Torres 2010). Instead it was more about teams positioning themselves for this summer and free agency.
Draft day deals this year were marked by several teams not trying to improve themselves, as much as simply trying to dump bad contracts. Everyone in the league fell into one of two categories:
1. Teams shedding players and salaries for a big free agent push (I.E. the ability to sign 2-3 max contract players. Think Miami and Chicago)
2. Teams with no chance of signing the big boy free agents, and instead improving their rosters with everyone else’s leftover parts (Think Oklahoma City).
Because of this, it’s pretty hard to gauge how teams actually did in this draft, since everyone’s motives were so different. However anyone who knows me knows how stubborn I am, and because of it, I’ve handed out 30 grades to 30 teams after the 2010 NBA Draft
On Wednesday, my buddy Arjun Chandrasekhar engaged in an epic argument, debating over who we think should be the first five picks of Thursday night's NBA Draft, in Part I of what we liked to call "The Great NBA Draft Debate."
For those who missed, here are how the first five picks went down: 1. Washington Wizards- Aaron selected: John Wall, Kentucky
2. Philadelphia 76ers- Arjun selected: Evan Turner, Ohio State
3. New Jersey Nets- Aaron selected: DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky
Here at AaronTorres-Sports.com, we’re always trying to figure out what’s next in sports. Who’s the next great team? The next great player? The next football coach at the University of Georgia. Woops, sorry Dawg fans.
Anyway, in our search for the next big thing, we’ve found the next great sportswriter, Arjun Chandrasekhar. (If he’s not on your regular reading list, he should be. You can access his work by clicking here)
You see, as it turns out, Arjun stumbled across this site a few months back, and since then, well he’s been a thorn in my side.
Why a thorn? Well, because not only does Arjun comment on just about everything I write (Which I always appreciate), but because his comments are so well crafted, well thought out and so darn intelligent, that nine times out of 10, he makes me completely re-think and re-evaluate everything I’d just previously written. And when Arjun contacted me a few weeks ago about potentially collaborating on something, I knew I had to take him up on it. Because regardless of what we ended up talking about, I knew it’d be enjoyable for the readers. Which is always my No. 1 concern.
All that brings us today.
After lengthy e-mail exchanges, Arjun and I settled on doing an NBA Mock Draft, similar to the one’s you’ve seen previously on ESPN.com with Chad Ford and Bill Simmons.
Simply put, we took every team in the NBA Draft Lottery (Picks 1-14), and gave our well informed, thought out opinions on how we think the draft should go down. Please keep in mind however, that these are the picks that we think teams should make, not necessarily the one’s we think they will make.
The conversation ended up very, very lengthy (but believe me, it’s a good lengthy. You’ll enjoy) and we decided to break the Great NBA Draft Debate into two parts, with Part I running right now, and Part II on Thursday.
With the first pick in the draft, Aaron Torres and the Washington Wizards are on the clock…
When I decided a few months back to schedule a vacation for this past weekend, the timing seemed perfect. There'd be no football or basketball on TV, allowing me to focus on the important things you're supposed to on vacation, namely eating unhealthy food, poisoning your body with alcohol, and catching some sun by the pool. Or as my friend Syed calls it, "Getting your burn on."
Of course, as it turns out, I was wrong. If there was one weekend in the past few months that I needed to be in front of the TV and a computer, this was the one. Game 7 of the NBA Finals. World Cup coverage in the late morning and early afternoon. The U.S. Open taking over in the late afternoon and early evening. Wimbledon starting Monday.
By Saturday my head was spinning with potential column ideas for when I returned to work on Tuesday. Would it be too late to talk about the NBA Finals? What if Tiger Woods won at Pebble Beach? Could I squeeze out 1500 words on my trip to Washington D.C. and the Nationals game I attended on Friday night? What about the World Cup? At a time of the year when most sports writers are scraping and clawing for story ideas, I actually had too much to write about, which isn't necessarily the worst thing. With all this in the back of my mind, I hit the town for one last time Saturday night, actually feeling a little guilty for not being in front of my computer.
Despite it, I was actually having a good time, at least until a text came, from my mom at 10:53 p.m. All it told me was that Manute Bol had passed away at the age of 47. The World Cup and U.S. Open would have to wait. I had my column for Tuesday.
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On Tuesday, Aaron was lucky enough to sit down with
Is it just me, or is anybody else ready for some college football? 
It's July 4th. A day to be thankful for our freedoms. A day to be thankful for our independence. A day to sit on the beach, drink cold beer, get your burn on, and oogle girls who may or may not be of legal age.
For the last couple days, I’ve been debating how I was going to attack this article.
On Monday, Aaron was sat down with Ryan McNeill, editor and reporter for 
As weird as this may sound, my thoughts on Saturday’s United States World Cup loss actually date back over a year.
Like everything else this NBA season, Thursday night’s draft wasn’t so much a celebration of welcoming in a new group of players to the NATIONAL…BASKETBALL…ASSOCIATION (Get it? Like when Ron Jaworski calls the NFL the NATIONAL…FOOTBALL…LEAGUE?? Get it? Copyright Aaron Torres 2010). Instead it was more about teams positioning themselves for this summer and free agency.
On Wednesday, my buddy Arjun Chandrasekhar engaged in an epic argument, debating over who we think should be the first five picks of Thursday night's NBA Draft, in 
Here at AaronTorres-Sports.com, we’re always trying to figure out what’s next in sports. Who’s the next great team? The next great player? The next football coach at the University of Georgia. Woops, sorry Dawg fans.
When I decided a few months back to schedule a vacation for this past weekend, the timing seemed perfect. There'd be no football or basketball on TV, allowing me to focus on the important things you're supposed to on vacation, namely eating unhealthy food, poisoning your body with alcohol, and catching some sun by the pool. Or as my friend Syed calls it, "Getting your burn on."
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 