The Old Fashioned 3-Point Play 

TOF3PP will feature commentary on two story-lines from the sports world, and one trending topic from American pop culture.

The Bucket

I think, unknowingly, sports have been so fascinating throughout my life because we are continuously witnessing a person or group trying to build something – for lack of a better word.

We just watched the Golden State Warriors (73-9) try to build a better NBA regular season than the vaunted ’95-’96 Chicago Bulls (72-10). Last year, both the WTA’s Serena Williams and the PGA’s Justin Spieth made strong bids to sweep the major events  in their respective sports.

At the top of 2016 we watched Peyton Manning, and John Elway to an extent, try to simultaneously author the perfect ending to a NFL Hall of Fame career and deliver a Super Bowl championship to the city of Denver, CO. In March we watched Big East stalwart the Villanova Wildcats outlast the North Carolina Tarheels to crown an unlikely National Champion in Men’s college basketball. And, we also just watched boxing’s money man and long-running P4P kingpin, Floyd Mayweather, close out a 49-0 career that included titles in multiple weight classes.

On Saturday night June 18th in Dayton, OH I attended Pearson Promotions’ boxing event The Awakening to watch a group of Midwest prospects try to take a step further towards building a successful professional boxing career. The Awakening represented the city’s first pro boxing event in 25 years, and was organized by a staff led by Milton Pearson father of Mayweather Promotions’ middleweight Chris “Young King” Pearson. Former undisputed heavyweight world champion James “Buster” Douglas – ironically once a member of the basketball team of the community college located a few blocks from the site of the fights – sat ringside for all 5 bouts as the event’s special guest.

The event started with a beautiful rendering of the National Anthem by Dayton, OH-based RnB trio Wiiildflower that was truly deserving of a center court appearance at the Q up in Cleveland for the NBA Finals games the Cavaliers hosted. Local boxing fans took in a lot of exciting action from Indianapolis, IN lightweight Javar “Superstar” Jones, Zanesville, OH middleweight Brandon Alexander, and Daytonians Jeff “The Nightmare” Camp and Will “Simply Amazing” Clemons. Super middleweight Clemons, The Awakening’s headliner, returned to his native city from Las Vegas, Nevada where he lives and trains as part of Mayweather’s The Money Team.

Clemons  – a frequent Mayweather sparring partner as well as several other world-class boxers – did not keep any long-time friends or family in attendance waiting to commence with any post-fight reunion activities. Michigan’s Darryol Humphrey was immediately overwhelmed, just a few short steps from his corner, with a short burst of set up punches before Clemons landed a vicious left hook to Humphrey’s midsection. The referee counted to 10 as Humphrey lay under the ropes writhing in pain from the well placed body shot. Clemons later commented that Humphrey approached him in the dressing area prior to the fight, warning him that he traveled to Dayton to dole out some pain of his own.

Brandon Alexander  vs Ben Schlater: From the opening bell the taller Schlater seemed determined to be the lead, unleashing a series of wilder power shots that Alexander either evaded with good movement or parried with his gloves. Initially Alexander exhibited the patience of a more seasoned fighter, allowing the eager Schlater to exhaust himself with lunging flurries, but with about 10 seconds remaining in round one he followed up a double left jab with a thunderous right hand to Schlater’s temple. As Schlater collapsed to the canvas the crowd exploded into a frenzy. The fight was immediately halted, so Schlater could be evaluated by the ringside doctor.

Jeff Camp  vs Will Davis: This bout quickly became one of the more anticipated match ups of the evening after the two welterweights engaged in some mild trash talking at the weigh-in and presser held the previous day. Camp – a former World Series of Boxing participant – immediately set the tone for the fight pressuring Davis with a series of feints coupled with an array of thudding lead shots before connecting with a left hook to Davis’ ear for the first knockdown. Following the 8-count Camp continued to force Davis to the ropes, landing left and right hooks to the body for the fight’s second knockdown. Davis beat the count for a third time but he was noticeably retreating, and Camp took that as his cue to force Davis into the ropes where he crouched, attempting to avoid a final flurry of heavy hooks. The faded Davis managed to slip out to his left and turned his back to Camp, signaling to the ref that he’d had enough.

Javar Jones vs Terrell Houston: Jones consistently flashed his lightning fast hand speed to keep Houston at bay for the bulk of the fight’s four rounds. Occasionally the taller Houston used his reach advantage to disrupt Jones’ constant barrages with a counter punch or a jab, but he rarely put together any meaningful combinations to win a round. Jones maintained a steady work rate, seemingly going for the night’s third KO, but Houston competed for all four rounds. Jones exited the ring victorious by way of unanimous decision – all three judges scored the contest 40-36.

You may have heard that LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to The Land’s first professional sports championship in 52 years – nabbing his third NBA Finals MVP award in the process. James’ triple double (27/11/11) performance, along with some crucial second half buckets from both J.R. Smith and Kyrie Irving, led the way in upending the Golden State Warriors’ run at an all-time NBA season with a 93-89 Game 7 victory in Oakland, CA’s Oracle Arena.

Judging by the comments, posts and memes in social media haters gon’ hate regarding James’ improbable accomplishments in the 2016 Finals. Converting the three free-throws after being fouled on a 3-FGA by back up center Festus Ezeli, knocking down the deep late-game three, and sprinting full-court to block Andre Iguodala‘s lay up (now being coined The Chasedown) reaffirmed the craziest aspect of LeBron’s game: At 31 years old the guy still has the best motor of any athlete in the United States’ Big 3 of sports. Maybe in history.

Lastly, I don’t know if James truly makes his teammates better or if he just affects the game in so many ways that the majority of them never have to be exceptional for a prolonged period of a game. For the three elimination games the Cavs faced during the Finals, James averaged 36.3/11.7/9.7 to go along with 3 steals and 3 blocks. His true fans can crown him. All over again. I will just salute!

The And 1

Making a sequel with the original film’s cast, or the most crucial cast members, is a daunting challenge – and a major disappointment for film fans. A few TOF3PP’s ago I mentioned Emily Blunt would not be returning to Soldado, the sequel to Sicario.  Eh, not the worst development, as long as del Toro’s unforgiving mercenary returns.

Now, it seems like an extremely crucial character for another upcoming project will return to an extremely intriguing sequel. Noomi Rapace will return, in some capacity, as lone human survivor Elizabeth Shaw in Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant per Deadline. Rapace’s resourceful Shaw was last seen heading towards the home planet of Prometheus‘  Engineers accompanied by Michael Fassbender’s David – the severely damaged android that harbored some serious ulterior motives.

Rapace is reportedly shooting scenes in Australia, and her involvement in the August 2017 sequel is imperative because something has to tie Covenant to Prometheus. I left the theater disappointed in Prometheus, but the film caught fire for me once it arrived on cable. Throw in some time wasted in various forums and message boards learning about details I overlooked. I still had my issues with Prometheus, but it ultimately worked as a part of the Alien universe largely because of its quick pace. Elizabeth Shaw’s purpose in Covenant was once thought to germane to the film’s plot, but reports of some involvement makes me feel better about not leaving the theaters next August with more questions than answers for a second time. And, if you know the Engineers’ arc, you realize we are truly headed for some material where no man has really traveled before. Alright now Ridley, let’s not mess this one up!

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