From: The Dynasty
Contract Negotiations, 5 goals in 9 minutes and the Greatest Dunk of All Time.
Although there wasn't a whole lot that happened in this sports this past week, here are a few things that caught my eye.
1. Tristan Thompson resigns with the Cavaliers?
Yesterday, ESPN’s Chris Broussard forgot to turn his caps lock off when he tweeted that free agent power forward Tristan Thompson resigned with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three year, $53 million deal. This was exciting news for Cavs fans, because Thompson had a phenomenal postseason last year and is arguably the best offensive rebounder in the NBA.
Immediately after Broussard broke the story, conflicting reports began to surface, saying that Thompson is willing to sign the deal that Broussard tweeted about, but the Cavaliers have not agreed to the deal.
I can only imagine how frustrating this news must be to Cavs fans. Without Thompson’s activity on the boards, the Cavaliers are a different team.
However, I feel that Thompson will definitely resign and play alongside Lebron, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. Originally, Thompson wanted a $94 million max contract, so the fact that he dropped his demands to $53 million makes me believe that he will be back in a Cleveland jersey this season.
2. Robert Lewandowski scored five goals in less than ten minutes. Yes, you read that correctly.
Imagine you’re a player on VFL Wolfsburg. You’re up 1-0 against Bayern Munich, one of the best teams in the world and reigning champion of the German Bundesliga, and you’re winning away from home in the crazy atmosphere that is the Allianz Arena.
As the second half starts, Munich makes a single change and on comes Polish international Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski comes on and immediately makes an impact, tying the game in the 51st minute. He doesn’t stop there, scoring four more goals in the 52nd, 55th, 57th, and 60th minute to score FIVE goals within ten minutes. I’ve never seen anything like it.
His fifth goal was an absolute beauty. Mario Gotze, who scored the winning goal in the World Cup final, crossed the ball to the top of the box and Lewandowski hammered it home with a beautiful scissor kick.
3. Vince Carter over Frederic Weis, 15 years later.
Yesterday marks the 15th anniversary of the single greatest in-game dunk in the history of basketball.
On Sept. 25, 2000, The United States played France in the Sydney Olympic Games. The US won, but even if France won the game, there was one moment that will never be forgotten - and I’m sure Frederic Weis will never forget, either.
Vince Carter, one of the most explosive players the world has ever seen, was on the fastbreak and he saw Weis - all 7-feet of him - under the rim. Carter proceeded to not only dunk on him, but completely clear him.
Watch it again. It’s insane to think that he really cleared a 7-footer with ease.
Yesterday, in honor of the dunk, ESPN released an oral history of the dunk, with various players from that 2000 team weighing in on that play.
My favorite quote from the piece comes from Rudy Tomjanovich, the head coach of that team: “When I saw the replay, it was amazing. I wasn't sure what the hell happened in real life.”
