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Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus Podcast…1:30pm
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topics on Table..Stay for Fans Forum
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“RAMS-CHARGERS…TALE OF TWO TEAMS”
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One team you always believed in.
The other team you hardly ever could trust.

Then Sunday in the NFL happened.

The Rams were unbeaten and it got away from them in Philadelphia.  What looked like a win turned into a gut wrenching loss.

The Chargers, with a history of failing to close deals, had a lead, saw it go away, then found a way to accept a gift of lots of penalties and beat the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

The Rams choked the Eagles into submission, holding them to (-1) yard passing the first half.  The Eagles had 33-yards at half time and were buried by boos for hours.  Then a (26-7) Rams lead evaporated.  Philadelphia stacked drives upon drives, found their passing game, shutoff Matthew Stafford and came back and won.

The ‘Tush Push’ helped them multiple times, though it looked like the refs twice missed illegal off sides or illegal procedures on those plays.  Philadelphia earned it blocking 2-field goal attempts with their massive defensive front and taking one blocked kick back for the game sealing TD.

An exclamation point to a physical beating.  LA will be haunted by this missed chance at a huge road win, in a place they nearly won in the playoffs last year.

The Chargers survived because Justin Herbert refused to lose.  He stood in there, took 5-sacks, some wicked hits, and threw for 300-yards.  The Denver defense did everything but put him in the hospital.  But the defense also caved in.

The Broncos allowed Keenan Allen and Quinton Johnston to catch a combined 15-passes.  Tight end Orande Gadsen, in his first start had 5-catches, and rookie tough guy running back Omani Hampton had 25-touches and  combined (129) all purpose yards.

Derwin James was everywhere, 10-solo tackles, a sack. 5-tackles for loss.  Cam Dicker kicked more game winning field goals, one of the best in the NFL-no one pays attention too.

The injuries continued to mount-last week LB-Khalil Mack, this week RB-Najee Harris and two OL.

Denver died on the field, and committed some 10-egregious penalties in losing a road lead and a game they could have won.

The Bolts are (3-0), all wins in their division and that is a statement start to the season.

Tale of two teams.  The Rams could have won.  The Chargers did win.  As wild a Sunday as you will likely seem all season
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Hacksaw’s Thursday Podcast
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
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“NFL PREVIEW”
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Week 3-of the NFL season and some big boy games are on the schedule

CHARGERS-BRONCOS…The Bolts are off to a blazing start, but now they have to face the next month without star LB-Khalil Mack.  Justin Herbert is red hot.  The running game has to get better.  The depth of the wide receivers has been impressive.  Jesse Minter’s defensive play calls, his pressure packages, and the athleticism that side of the ball is awesome.  Denver has struggled out of the gate, and has not run the ball yet.  The defense needs to put enormous pressure on Herbert and his receivers.  The Chargers could be (3-0) by Sunday night, with all three wins in the AFC-West.  That is impressive.

CHIEFS-GIANTS..KC is (0-2) but should get healthy against a Giants team led by Russell Wilson, coming off a (450Y) passing performance.  I keep waiting for the Chiefs to explode on offense, but it has yet to come.  Likely this weekend.

PACKERS-BROWN…Joe Flacco will be under fire all day with this Green Bay pass rush.  Jordan Love-vs-Myles Garrett pass rush will be fun to watch too.  The Packers wide receiver group is beat up though.

COLTS-TITANS..Daniel Jones tries to take Indy where no one expected, a (3-0) start.  His receivers and RB-Jon Taylor have brought explosiveness to the Colts offense.  Cam Ward and his painful learning process will continue.

VIKINGS-BENGALS..Both starting QBs are gone, so the battle of the backups won’t be sexy.  Carson Wentz-vs-Jake Browning.  Help us.

STEELERS-PATRIOTS..A real test of toughness coming, Mike Tomlin’s defense-vs-Mike Vrabel’s warrior defense.  Interesting to see what Aaron Rodgers can do.

RAMS-EAGLES…Matthew Stafford-vs-Jalen Hurts.  Two explosive defenses.  The offenses may be slowed down, but what a great matchup this will be.

JETS-TAMPA BAY…Baker Mayfield has the Bucs rolling.  The Jets have to do this without QB-Justin Fields.

RAIDERS-WASHINGTON…The air came out of the Las Vegas balloon last Monday night.  The Commanders may not have QB-Jayden Daniels.  Interested to see how Geno Smith responds to an awful game vs the Chargers.

FALCONS-CAROLINA..Michael Penix-vs-Bryce Young at quarterback.  Which young QB has made the most progress.

HOUSTON-JAGUARS..Hard to believe the Texana are (0-2).  Big time challenge for Jags QB-Trevor Lawrence against the Houston pass rush.

SEAHAWKS-SAINTS..Sam Darnold, one bad outing, one good outing.  The Saints, looking for anything to help them.

DALLAS-CHICAGO…Dak Prescott has firepower around him.  Caleb Williams looks like he is running for his life all the time.  The Bears do not look good at all.

49ERS-ARIZONA…Yes I bet you had this on your bingo card..these two teams being (2-0).  See if Mac Jones can continue to play well.  Arizona’s defense will face a challenge.

LIONS-RAVENS..What a war is coming.  Jared Goff-vs-Baltimore’s defense.  The Lions defense against Lamar Jackson.  Last guy touches the ball wins?  What a start to the season for both these teams.

BILLS-MIAMI…good game for Josh Allen, the 3TD-outing, a better night for the Buffalo defense, which put a lid on big plays by Tua-Tyreek and the Dolphins offense.
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Hacksaw’s Thursday Podcast…1:30pm
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topics on Table..Stay for Fans Forum
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“NBA-VS-LA CLIPPERS”
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The most important words in the NBA right now…not training camps…not impending free agents…not injuries….but this:

ARTICLE 13-CBA

Pay attention because history could be made  when the NBA and its high powered law firm concludes its lengthy investigation of the Kawhi Leonard-LA Clippers-Salary Cap Violation case.

The NBA probe swirls around (48M) in cash and stock ownership given to the Clippers star as an outside addendum to his (50M) a year contract extension he signed with the Clippers a couple of years ago.

The investigation targets Clippers mega-rich owner Steve Ballmer, who invested in a Forest company that eventually went bankrupt.  It spins off to Ballmer not only pouring 50M-into the firm, but accepting the company as a title sponsor of his new Arena, only to see the firm go bankrupt, and its leader indicted on charges of (248M) in investor fraud.

Ballmer denies any knowledge of the side deal the company made with Leonard.  He testified to the league he was ‘fleeced’ in the investment and is suing the past owner for damages.

But we find out now the owner introduced his star to the since convicted CEO of the Tree company.

Now we also find out the Clippers vice chairman wrote a check for 2M-cash thru the company given to Leonard, beyond the terms of his contract with the team.

The end result is now a paper trail of salary cap violations

The scary part, Leonard’s uncle-agent, Dennis Robertson, made alot of demands of the Clippers that were beyond the contract awarded the star.  And this was the same sales pitch Robertson made while Leonard was with the Toronto Raptors.  Both the Clippers and Toronto concluded those were salary cap violations and rejected all the demands.

Now we can theorize Kawhi and his uncle went round the cap to do these side deals, with or without Ballmer’s knowledge.

How does this all tie together with ‘ARTICLE 13-NBA SALARY CAP’?

Written into the CBA are specific penalties that the Clippers-the owner-and the star could face.  Among them:

..The Clippers could be fined (7.5M) damages.
..The Clippers could be stripped of 5-first round draft picks
..The Clippers could be charged with (28M) in luxury tax penalties.
..Ballmer could be suspended for 1-full year.
..Leonard’s current (50M) a year deal could be voided
..Leonard could be forced to pay (28M) to a bankruptcy court.
..Leonard could be suspended for 1-year.

Innocent till proven guilty, of-course, but if you connect the dots on all this, from Toronto thru LA, there seems to be quite a trend of the way Kawhi and his handlers conducted their business.

He is a great player, he may be a Hall of Famer, but he is not above the NBA law, and the paper trail uncovered so far, leads you to believe something bad could happen, if he is proven guilty.

It’s right there on paper in ARTICLE 13-CBA.
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====

Hacksaw’s Thursday Podcast…1:30pm
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topics on Table..Stay for Fans Forum
======
“NBA-VS-LA CLIPPERS”
======

The most important words in the NBA right now…not training camps…not impending free agents…not injuries….but this:

ARTICLE 13-CBA

Pay attention because history could be made  when the NBA and its high powered law firm concludes its lengthy investigation of the Kawhi Leonard-LA Clippers-Salary Cap Violation case.

The NBA probe swirls around (48M) in cash and stock ownership given to the Clippers star as an outside addendum to his (50M) a year contract extension he signed with the Clippers a couple of years ago.

The investigation targets Clippers mega-rich owner Steve Ballmer, who invested in a Forest company that eventually went bankrupt.  It spins off to Ballmer not only pouring 50M-into the firm, but accepting the company as a title sponsor of his new Arena, only to see the firm go bankrupt, and its leader indicted on charges of (248M) in investor fraud.

Ballmer denies any knowledge of the side deal the company made with Leonard.  He testified to the league he was ‘fleeced’ in the investment and is suing the past owner for damages.

But we find out now the owner introduced his star to the since convicted CEO of the Tree company.

Now we also find out the Clippers vice chairman wrote a check for 2M-cash thru the company given to Leonard, beyond the terms of his contract with the team.

The end result is now a paper trail of salary cap violations

The scary part, Leonard’s uncle-agent, Dennis Robertson, made alot of demands of the Clippers that were beyond the contract awarded the star.  And this was the same sales pitch Robertson made while Leonard was with the Toronto Raptors.  Both the Clippers and Toronto concluded those were salary cap violations and rejected all the demands.

Now we can theorize Kawhi and his uncle went round the cap to do these side deals, with or without Ballmer’s knowledge.

How does this all tie together with ‘ARTICLE 13-NBA SALARY CAP’?

Written into the CBA are specific penalties that the Clippers-the owner-and the star could face.  Among them:

..The Clippers could be fined (7.5M) damages.
..The Clippers could be stripped of 5-first round draft picks
..The Clippers could be charged with (28M) in luxury tax penalties.
..Ballmer could be suspended for 1-full year.
..Leonard’s current (50M) a year deal could be voided
..Leonard could be forced to pay (28M) to a bankruptcy court.
..Leonard could be suspended for 1-year.

Innocent till proven guilty, of-course, but if you connect the dots on all this, from Toronto thru LA, there seems to be quite a trend of the way Kawhi and his handlers conducted their business.

He is a great player, he may be a Hall of Famer, but he is not above the NBA law, and the paper trail uncovered so far, leads you to believe something bad could happen, if he is proven guilty.

It’s right there on paper in ARTICLE 13-CBA.
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“NFL NOTEBOOK”
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A wild weekend of stories and lots of items from my notebook:

TOM BRADY-VS-MEDIA…All this time, all these opinions about Tom Brady-broadcaster and Tom Brady-minority Raiders owner and what is legal-illegal about the roles he is filling.  All this yapping back and forth because he was sitting in the Raiders coaching booth in the Monday Night loss to the Chargers.  Connecting all the dots to his job as a Fox TV analyst and the fact the NFL does not allow him access to other team’s facilities, nor allows him to meet with the GMs-Coaches or players of the teams he is going to broadcast that weekend.  Like they fear he gets some inside information?  C’mon now-he gets coach speak at best and he can draw his own conclusions based on his own video study.  What a waste of energy.  What he knows about football is enormous.  What he can supply the Raiders about opponents is no different than what Pete Carrroll can gleam from his sources and from video.  Much-ado-about nothing-me thinks-as Shakespear would say.

MIAMI MESS..They keep losing and Tyreek Hill throws another tantrum on the field on a bad overthrow from Tua Tagovailoa. Implosion coming for sure.

JAGUARS JUNK…Liam Coen is trying to say the right things about Trevor Lawrence, but there are issues about throwing to the wrong reads and about the QB decisions.  The surprise on Sunday was Coen screeching at Lawrence and Lawrence waving him off-ignoring him stepping to into the huddle.

BENGALS BUSINESS..Joe Burrow is gone with a terrible foot injury, surgery coming, out 3-to-5 months.  It’s his fifth major injury of his career playing for a Mike Brown-led organization that drafts poorly, feuds with players over contracts, and makes mistakes in free agency.  Wasting a great player’s career.

GIANTS GRUESOME…What a bad outing for a young offensive lineman, four penalties on one series, including a brutal head slap.  Brian Daboll has lots of problems to deal with, but the video was beyond brutal.  OT-James Hudson-might have been the worst day I have seen an NFL lineman have.

DENVER DOINGS..A bit of a surprise of ups and downs for Bo Nix and Sean Payton to start the season.  Strange playcalls.  Not much of a running game.  And alot of pressure on Nix.

CHIEFS CALAMITY…An (0-2) start plagued by bad plays, roster troubles and Travis Kelce tantrums. His raging exchanges with teammates in the opening day loss to the Chargers, was followed by a helmet throwing incident after a tipped pass led to a pick that cost the Chiefs a critical TD.  Things are not going well in KC.

BAD NEWS BEARS..Caleb Williams is playing too much freelance football, scrambling, taking big sacks, turning the ball over, and just not being trust worthy to put scoring drives together.

EAGLES..Video surfaces showing the ‘Tush-Push’ goal-line and first-down plays, and the video shows the Eagles interior offensive line continually lining up off side (helmets over the line of scrimmage) and no penalty flag calls from the NFL refs.  Now that it is out there on social media, does it change going forward-in terms of flags?

RAIDERS WRECKAGE..That was a pretty poor Monday night outing by QB-Geno Smith, freaked out by a Chargers pass rush and the coverages.  Alot of work to be done by the Raiders offense, lack of run game, and lack of protection packages, and on defense, too many penalties.  Work in progress for Pete Carroll.

Here comes week three and there will be lots more stories coming.

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