For the second time in three years The Minnesota Lynx have won the WNBA title. They were unbeaten throughout the playoffs making them the second WMBA Team to accomplish that and their star player Maya Moore was named league MVP. After a 3-0 series win over the Atlanta Dream. The Lynx also swept the Dream for the championship in 2011. They have definitely set the bar and are the team to beat. Congratulations!!
An All-Star Performance by a Non All-Star….
Second year Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes made history during 2013 MLB All-Star Weekend. The Cuban born baseball sensation is the first non-nominated All-Star player to participate in the MLB All-Star Home Run Derby. Not only was he a participant he walked away as the 2013 Home Run Derby champion. Yoneis hit a total of 32 home runs over three rounds and 17 home runs in the first round, the third most homers hit in one round tying with “Big Papi” David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox.
Yoenis was selected to compete in the derby by American League captain and New York Yankee superstar Robinson Cano. That name may sound familiar to you, as Cano recently signed contract with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports agency. The selection of “Yo” which he is known as around the league was the first of its kind. Normally those selected to the Home Run Derby are those already participating in the MLB All-Star game in conjunction with player choices made by fans.
Yoenis Cespedes who is very family oriented celebrated his home run derby championship with his mom, dad and four siblings.
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Looks to enhance the Kevin Durant Brand!
In a game now where each NBA team is composed of a “Big Three”, there is no coincidence that Jay-Z and Roc Nation are making moves to acquire their own “Big Three” first with the signing of WNBA standout rookie guard Skylar Diggins, the extremely athletic and versatile New York Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith, and now the potential signing of one of the NBA’s “Big Three” Kevin Durant.
Kevin Durant’s move to Roc Nation looks to be purely based from a marketing aspect. Durant already has a solid list of endorsements with brands such as Nike, Gatorade, Sprint, and Skullcandy just to name a few. The question is, will the quote on quote star power of Jay-Z be essential to the branding Kevin Durant’s name, as well as the other clients that Roc Nation has acquired in such a short time.
Multi-talented Entrepreneur Jay Z ‘s not sitting courtside to be seen. He is strategizing…. It is reported that he is selling his stake in, the Brooklyn Nets, the newest NBA team, which launched this season after moving from New Jersey. He is doing this and launching his new interest in sports management. League conflict of interest rules state that NBPA agents cannot have ownership stakes in teams. So he has to divest.
As the franchise face of the Nets, Jay Z’s influence in the marketing of the team has been invaluable: he changed the Jersey’s color to black, placed a 40/40 club in the Barclays Center arena where the team plays and put a Rocawear store inside too. Its suites carry Armond de Brignac (Ace of Spade) Champagne. It is reported he owns a token portion of the Nets, understood to be 1/15th of 1%, worth around $800,000. Adrian Wojnarowski reports Jay Z has already started selling his shares to be in position to, by late June, represent players in the NBA draft.
Roc Nation Sports, Jay Z’s new sports management company, is a partnership with Creative Artist Agency. New York Yankees baseball star Robinson Canó signed with them last week. Jay-Z will not likely negotiate deals for the players he signs. CAA is expected to take the lead in deal making, while Jay-Z once again plays the position he plays so well, being the magnet and face of the operation.
The Nets, who are off to a good run (finally) this season, are left with a new arena, a new branded look, a star endorsement and are qualified for the playoffs. Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov still owns 80% of the team.
Did Adrian Peterson Break the Rushing Yards Record?
This season, Adrian Peterson came 9 short yards from breaking the rushing yards record of Eric Dickerson. But he may have missed it due to the technicality in measurements, not because he didn’t actually make it.
After quickly recovering from an ACL tear, Peterson ran a whopping 2097 yards, and 199 yards on the last day of the season against the Green Bay Packers leading the Vikings into the playoffs. The NFL unrounded measurements make it possible that Peterson actually ran more yards this season than Eric Dickerson in 1984. One thing is certain, a healthy Adrian will beat the record in the first regular season game in Sept and the SET family will be cheering him on.
