Maximo's Take

The phenomenal job by Internazionale in building a squad that can compete with Juventus under a "limited" budget  Juve has been in a level of their own for the last 8 years or so, winning the Scudetto had become an obligation, but a familiar face has returned to his native land to give them a run for their money. Luciano Spaletti is a fine coach and did an okay job, but by bringing in Antonio Conte, Internazionale made a statement, no more celebration of top 4 qualifications we are here to win. We all know Conte he is to me one of the five best managers in the world, he wouldn't even be available to Inter If not for his reputation, a lot of drama, a lot of complaining and most clubs don't want to deal with that. Look at his tenure at Chelsea, in two years they won the Premier League and the FA Cup but the whole situation with Diego Costa, Chelsea's reluctance to bring in Lukaku, a lot of friction with the board and they sacked him. A lot of people were ...

Andre Iguodala has grabbed a lot of headlines around the NBA trade deadline for his refusal to play for the Memphis Grizzlies after being traded there from the Golden State Warriors, ans as I was reading an article about that at the Big Lead  by Stephen Douglas I thought he summarized the situation perfectly by stating this regarding the 2015 Finals' MVP: " He's now the guy who cashed checks from a playoff team, but refused to play because he wanted to be on a better playoff team." That's a slap in the face of every sports fan out there. The NBA has a big problem and Andre Iguodala is just the latest player to be involved in a situation like this. Whether it's players sitting out demanding a trade, load management or this new nonsense it just seems like there's always some reason not to play. Andre Iguodala is currently a role player making 17 million dollars who refused to play for a Memphis Grizzlies team that's now competing for the pla...

Racial diversity is a big topic in the NFl. I actually thought the bit about it by Steve Harvey at the NFL Honors was very funny. Black coaches are as hard to find as white cornerbacks, but looking at the MVP odds for the 2020 season that just came out I noticed something very interesting. Here is the list: Mahomes +600 Jackson +700 Wilson +900 Watson +1200 Wentz +1600 Prescott/Murray +2000 Besides the fact that all seven Quarterbacks are mobile. Different degrees of mobility nevertheless they are all mobile, there is the fact that five of the top seven are black Quarterbacks. Could you imagine that being the case a decade ago. I repeat five of the seven top candidates for the regular season MVP award according to Vegas are black Quarterbacks. There is a movement  going on here. Take a look at the preseason odds for the 2010 regular season MVP award to provide some context: Peyton Manning +350 Drew Brees +400 Aaron Rodgers +700 Chris Johnson +750 Tom Brady +...

Mookie Betts is a Dodger, that's the headline of another huge blockbuster deal between the Dodgers and the Red Sox. The deal is expected to involve multiple teams, Joc Pederson going to the Angels, Alex Verdugo as the main piece to the Red Sox, alongside Brusdar Graterol from the Twins who receive Kenya Maeda (a big win for Boston) and plenty more will come within the next few hours. It seemed to be a one horse race for Betts as the Padres never felt like a real landing spot in a trade, it just makes little sense unless they could get him to sign an extension before Free Agency which ain't happening and the deal eventually got done. We all know the heartbreaks that the Dodgers have been through over the last decade or so and throughout all of that Andrew Friedman and even his predecessor, Ned Colleti have been unwilling to give up top prospects in a trade, for the most part it has worked out for them, Bellinger, Buehler and Seager headline a crop of young tal...

For the rest of your life don't ever let anybody tell you that you couldn't do it because you did it. The famous quote by Bill Parcels after his first Super Bowl victory against the Denver Broncos in 1986, so simple yet it's what comes to my mind after seeing Andy Reid lift that trophy in Miami. He is now an all time great coach with no buts, no he was a great coach but he never won the big one. It's easy and maybe right to assume that with Mahomes he'd eventually win one in Kansas City, but with these things you never know, Reid has been a great coach since when and hadn't won, Dan Marino after losing to the 49ers early in his caeer probably felt the same thing and that's not something you care about right now, you just want to win. Before anything let me congratulate Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Brett Veach and the entire Chiefs' roster for a wonderful season that culminated in a championship last night, well deserved. After the Chiefs' com...