Author: Ronnie Schmidt

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Messi Will Stay at Camp Nou Forever According to Barcelona President

Josep Maria Bartomeu, the president of Barcelona, has recently told reporters that he wants the football superstar, Lionel Messi, to stay linked to the football club forever and that he is planning to sit down with the Barcelona. He is looking to extend his contract with the team.

Messi managed to sign a deal less than two years ago that will run until the end of 2021, taking him through to his 34th birthday. Messi, the Argentina international, is showcasing absolutely no signs of slowing down when it comes to playing for the club. He already managed to score 42 goals this season in all competitions and the Barcelona president is already considering what would be his 10th, and perhaps the last, football deal at the club for Lionel Messi.

Josep Maria Bartomeu Comments on Lionel Messi

“We truly want Lionel Messi to have a long football career so everyone can continue enjoying his skills and abilities on the pitch,” Bartomeu stated. “Messi has broken down several borders. Everyone truly admires the talent he has, and he gets applauded around the world by rival fans.

Bartomeu added, “We want to renew Messi’s contract as soon as possible. He is still a young player at heart, and everyone can see that. He still has two years to go on his current contract at Barcelona and is always innovating and improving with every game he plays. I think he still has loads of years ahead of him on the pitch for Barcelona and in the next few months, I will sit down with Lionel Messi to ensure he has many more years at Camp Nou.

Bartomeu continued stating that “Messi is undoubtedly a one-club man; there’s no denying it. However, it goes far beyond what he does on the pitch against other opponents as his relationship with his current club will last forever. We want Lionel Messi always to be part of Barcelona, whether he continues playing for the team or simply linked to the club in another way after he retires.”

Lionel Messi’s Career

Lionel Messi is also considered the top goalscorer for Barcelona with a total of 594 goals. This allowed him to surpass Andres Iniesta when it comes to appearances for the club. He is currently second in the history of the club as Xavi Hernandez is the only player ahead of him with 767 appearances. Lionel Messi has appeared a total of 676 times for Barcelona.

Since Lionel Messi made his incredible debut during 2004, Barcelona has managed to enjoy more success than any other span in the history of the club. The club has claimed 8 of the last 11 La Liga titles, 4 out of 5 Champions League titles, and won 4 Copa del Reys.

However, there’s no denying that a time will come when Messi decided to hang up his boots and the president of Barcelona states that it’s vital for the club to prepare for when that happens.

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Jusuf Nurkic Suffers Severe Compound Fractures in Leg

Jusuf Nurkic, the centre for the Portland Trail Blazers, suffered several compound fractures to the fibula and tibia in his lower left leg during a double-overtime victory against the Brooklyn Nets that took place on Monday evening and will, unfortunately, be out for the rest of the season.

Jusuf Nurkic’s Injury

Nurkic jumped for a rebound where he came down in a very awkward position in a tangle of bodies that occurred under the net. Once he hit the floor, the players from the Brooklyn Nets that were around him witnessed the severity of his injury and started sprinting away. The basketball arena immediately went into silence as the medical personnel of the Blazers rushed to attend to Nurkic’s injury. A stretcher was instantly called, and with the assistance of a handful of Blazers, including Al-Farouq Aminu, Rodney Hood, and Damian Lillard, the 7-foot Nurkic was quickly loaded onto the stretcher.

Damian Lillard’s Comments

“It made me feel incredibly sick,” Lillard stated. “I believe he attempted to tip it in before he crashed the glass and I witnessed him hitting the ground and quickly roll over, and I was under the impression someone might have hit his face again. While I was walking over to see what was going on, I noticed that everyone was turning around and walking away quite quickly, and then I noticed his leg. I truly hate to see it happen to someone like him.”

Lillard stated that it reminded him of the Team USA exhibition in 2014 that took place in Las Vegas when Paul George had his injury, a match Lillard was also playing in. “Nurkic’s injury looked exactly like that to me,” Lillard stated. It also brought back memories of the gruesome ankle injury of Gordon Hayward that occurred during the 2017/18 opening night game.

Terry Stotts stated that Nurkic was rushed to a local hospital and didn’t have much else to add as the head coach for the Blazers. “It’s horrible,” Stotts stated. Stotts also added that the locker room for the Blazers was tranquil after the injury occurred and Zach Collins felt like the team lost after the injury occurred. Enes Kanter stated that the entire team held a silent moment for Jusuf Nurkic after the match.

“Nobody had anything to say,” Kanter stated. This is a crushing and unexpected blow for the Blazers, who have managed to surge in recent games even though CJ McCollum has been sidelined after a knee injury. They managed to defeat the Brooklyn Nets in a 148-144 double-overtime match and clinched a playoff berth in the process.

Nurkic’s injury occurred with only 2 minutes left on the clock, while the Blazers were leading the game with 2 points. They managed to close the Brooklyn Nets with a phenomenal 3-pointer by Rodney Hood along with clutch free throws by Curry to finally seal the game for the Portland Trail Blazers.

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Denver Nuggets Are Heading to the Playoffs After Six-Year Drought

The Denver Nuggets are finally going to the postseason after a drought that lasted a total of 6 years. Nikola Jokic had 13 rebounds and 21 points, and the Denver Nuggets managed to rally during the 4th quarter to defeat the Boston Celtics in a great 114-105 victory on Monday evening. This allowed them to clinch their very first playoff berth since the 2012/13 season.

Denver Nuggets vs Boston Celtics

Will Barton managed to add 20 points for the Denver Nuggets who have now won a total of 4 consecutive games. The Denver Nuggets, with a 47-22 record, are currently tied with the Golden State Warriors for the best record within the Western Conference.

The Denver Nuggets managed to win a total of 46 matches in the previous season. However, they, unfortunately, missed the playoffs after they lost against Minnesota during overtime on the final day of the NBA regular season. Thankfully, this season, their 47th win worked like a charm.

“It’s a fantastic feeling,” Michael Malone stated in a recent interview who is the head coach for the Denver Nuggets. “This has taken us four years to achieve. Two consecutive years are coming up just short. We will be using that as tonight’s motivation moment.”

There were loads of smiles in the locker room of the Denver Nuggets after the game.
“We are just going to enjoy this,” Jamal Murray stated. “We are going to take a moment and realise how far we’ve come this season. It’s fantastic to look ahead at the moment while enjoying it at the same time.”

Boston Celtics

Kyrie Irving was leading the Boston Celtics with a total of 30 points, while Al Horford managed to finish with 20 points, six assists and six rebounds. This was the Celtics second loss in 7 matches.

“You need to play exceptionally well for 48 minutes against the Nuggets,” Irving stated. “They managed to come back from 18 down and kept firing.”

The Boston Celtics are currently 5th in the Eastern Conference, one and a half games behind Indiana in 4th place and two and a half games behind the 76ers who they will face on Wednesday. This match essentially felt like a game between 2 postseason teams. The game remained tight during the second half, with no team having more than a two-possession lead during the third quarter.

However, the Denver Nuggets managed to get some breathing room during the final period and to an impressive 106-94 lead with only 3:47 remaining on the clock. The Boston Celtics managed to score seven successive times to get within 5 points. However, Barton managed to stop the run thanks to a layup. After Horford missed a 3-pointer, Paul Millsap managed to seal the deal with a 4-point play that allowed the Denver Nuggets to stretch their lead to 112-101 with only 31.3 seconds left on the clock — well deserved to the Nuggets. Now let’s see how they do in the playoffs.

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Golden State Warriors Further Improve Their Top-Seed Chances

When the Golden State Warriors play the way they should and focus, no other NBA team can beat them. The Golden State Warriors at their best is far better than any other team in the league. This was especially true when they claimed a 122-105 victory against the Denver Nuggets on Friday evening at the Oracle Arena.

However, after four consecutive journeys to the NBA Finals. Steve Kerr, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, has recently acknowledged that it’s not humanly possible for his star players to provide the same level of skills and capabilities through the season. This means that in some matches they have it, and some events they don’t.

Emotions of the Golden State Warriors

After losing by 33 points to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday evening at the Oracle Arena, the worst loss at home for Kerr, the Golden State Warriors understood the embarrassment they inflict on their opponents. In a regular season that has witnessed loads of emotional swings, the Golden State Warriors have played at times with frustration, anger, and joy during several rough patches throughout the season. All these emotions have assisted the Warriors in providing a reminder to both the Denver Nuggets and the rest of the NBA league that they are truly dangerous when everything clicks.

“Once we are challenged, with our backs against the wall, we play the best basketball in the league,” Klay Thompson stated before the match. “Being aware of what is at stake in the next eighteen matches, we have to play our best as we don’t want to lose our number 1 seed. Therefore, tonight is a major game for the Golden State Warriors.”

Golden State Warriors Receives Wake Up Call

After they lost 5 of the eight matches before Friday evening’s showdown. The Golden State Warriors and Kerr were very open about the fact that the team has recently enjoyed a few solid days of group discussions and practice. Kerr stated that he felt like the team owed fans of East Bay a much better performance in the final year at Oracle. More importantly, Kerr’s players were well aware that they expected better performance themselves.

Kerr’s team too often appears that they are merely going through the motions of the NBA regular season. They are patiently waiting for the glimmering lights of the playoffs to wake them up. The horrible defeat against the Boston Celtics seemed to offer a significant wake-up call for the Warriors which is something they truly needed.

Although the Celtics are enjoying a thrilling season, the Warriors provided a potent reminder to showcase how dominant they can be. They continue to play phenomenally in every game they participate in, whether its an elite team or an inferior opposition. If the Golden State Warriors continue to rake in wins, there will be no one to stop them from claiming another sensational season in 2019.

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Namibia Is Going To The Rugby World Cup

The conflict between the NRL (Namibia Rugby League) and the NRU (Namibia Rugby Union), which threatened to place the Rugby World Cup participation for the country at risk. It looks like it’s going to have a happy ending.

The NRL and NRU have been at each other’s throats over who controls the national rugby team in Namibia as well as the day-to-day operation of the country’s beloved sport. World Rugby was contacted to intervene which managed to save the national rugby team, the Welwitschias, a trip to Japan after Corrie Mensah, the NRU president, refused to sign off on the national teams. The NRU president told several reporters that he had done to cause the Namibian Rugby League sidelined the union.

The Rugby Africa Conference

The impasse witnessed how the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Namibian rugby team’s participation was in jeopardy for the 2019 Rugby World Cup that will take place in Japan. However, we now understand that World Rugby. Along with the NRL and NRU, have agreed on a compromise that will be announced next week following discussions between the two Namibian parties at the Rugby Africa

Conference that took place in Morocco recently.

“We have managed to find a way forward where we could successfully find solutions to the problems we were facing,” Mensah informed reporters. There was never a scenario where the Namibian rugby team couldn’t participate at the World Cup. It’s for this reason that we did everything we could to resolve the issues between the NRL and the NRU. Mensah added to his comments saying that, “The only issue that could have surfaced was if World Rugby decided to pull their financial support. Without their help, we never would have been able to travel to Japan for the World Cup. That was undoubtedly our biggest concern. However, preparations are going ahead, and the team is busy training, so everything is going according to plan for the 2019 World Cup.”

Issues Between the NRL and NRU

Mensah informed reporters that the problems between the NRL and the NRU began when the former NRU board developed the NRL, a newly registered company before the term came to an end. The old board decided to transfer the day-to-day operation to the NRL, leaving the new NRY board completely powerless.

“The biggest problem was for everyone to understand that the NRU needed to be in charge of the company,” Mensah stated. The NRL didn’t make any provision for the brand-new NRU officials to sit on the board or have any influence in the affairs of the NRL.”

Mensah stated that he had to sign off the rugby teams when the Africa Gold Cup was underway. Which also managed to serve as Rugby World Cup qualifiers for Africa as the NRL was not recognised by the NSC (Namibian Sports Council). If the rugby teams were not signed off, then Namibia wouldn’t have been part of the qualifiers. Namibia managed to win the Africa Gold Cup to qualify for the 6th successive Rugby World Cup successfully.

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James Harden Could Be The NBA’s Next MVP

Based on the attitudes surrounding the All-Star Weekend, there’s a decent chance that the race for the Most Valued Player might transform into a basketball culture war. Everyone, especially the players that are surveyed on the matter, agrees that James Harden from the Houston Rockets and Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks have incredible seasons. Many nods also go towards Paul George, who has managed to take an unexpected leap during his second year with the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, there’s a culture war breaking out, and it seems to revolve around Harden’s accomplishments

James Harden as Potential MVP

The media seems quite fascinated with the incredible scoring binge of James Harden. Detailing his phenomenal 30 point matches and generating a pursuit of what would have looked like an unattainable Wilt Chamberlain record only a couple of months ago. It’s for this very reason why Harden was the Vegas favourite to repeat as Most Valued Player just last week. However, most sports betting sites have them both at -110 to claim MVP.

While some acknowledge the mastery of Harden, others are put off due to his style. Both in the way, Harden utilises the rules to his advantage and the way the Houston Rockets play. The freedom of movement, along with the relaxation of travel calls on Harden’s step-back. Having helped supercharge his season in such a way that it could irritate other players.

“Most people will say he gets away with travels when it comes to the step-back or that he flings his entire body into players to obtain fouls, but in all honesty, there are loads of us that get away with it,” stated a player that wants to remain anonymous as he doesn’t want to create controversy.

“Harden rarely plays basketball as a team sport. If you take a look at Giannis and how he plays, that is definitely how I was brought up in the game. However, that’s just my opinion on the matter,” he stated.

When you look at the statistics, most would agree with this statement. Earlier on in the season, Harden managed to score a total of 304 successive points that were all unassisted. This incredible streak was tracked with awe by both the media and fans. However, for some players, it developed eye-rolling because it represented the complete opposite of team play.

The counterpoint for Harden is simple. While the Rockets were in trouble and missing Chris Paul as co-creator for weeks on end, Harden took it upon himself to keep the team afloat in the Western Conference.

James Harden’s Record

Harden is currently boasting with 31 successive matches along with at least 30 points per game, tying him with Chamberlain for the longest streak in the history of the sport. During the game against the Golden State Warriors, he managed to finish with 44 points, ten rebounds, and 15 assists which is precisely the performance of an MVP.

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Mercedes Releases New F1 Car for 2019

The Mercedes Formula One car, known as the W10, has recently hit the track for the very first time at the popular Silverstone racetrack. The Mercedes W10 is the F1 car that Lewis Hamilton will use to potentially defend his world championship in 2019. It is also the F1 car that the Mercedes team will hope to deliver a 6th consecutive constructors championship that will equal the record held by Ferrari for successive victories.

The dominance by Mercedes in F1 since the last major regulation to engine change during 2014 has witnessed them winning the past five championships and a total of 74 races from 100. Along with Toro Rosso and Red Bull, the W10 will be the first car to test around the Silverstone racetrack as the team dedicated one of the filing days to a phenomenal shakedown of the new W10. Valtteri Bottas will have the first go before he hands it over the Hamilton. The two racers will only have 100km to test the new car according to filing regulations. Once testing is completed, it will go to Barcelona for the official pre-season testing during the opening day on Monday.

Comments from the Mercedes Team

“A new set of challenges will be presented for all of us during the 2019 season,” Toto Wolff stated. “There have been a few significant changes to the regulations this year. Therefore, we need to start from scratch which means we need to prove our worth once again against our competitors and against our own expectations. The season starts with zero points and therefore we will take nothing for granted which means there’s no feeling of entitlement to be in pole position. Due to the new regulations, each team will have a shot at the title and we see each of them as a potential threat.”

Hamilton also commented, stating: “This will be my 7th year with the Mercedes team and the determination and energy in the team is truly inspiring. The atmosphere truly starts at the beginning of a new season once you see how the car comes together. After that, you get to the shakedown and get the opportunity to drive the car. Believe me, its something that never gets old.”

The New Regulations in 2019

The new season will bring a brand-new set of changes to regulations in 2019. This includes revisions to the brake ducts, barge boards, rear and front wings in an attempt to improve overtaking. These changes have the potential to truly upset the order. However, James Allison, the technical director for Mercedes, is hopeful that these changes could also present the perfect opportunity for the team to finally cement their position at the top of the adrenaline-infused sport.

The W10 is a major improvement over the idiosyncratic W08. The Mercedes team were quite competitive when it came to the track which also plagued them in recent years. However, thanks to the improvements within the new W10, the team feels that they can be far more competitive this time around.

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Liverpool Needs to Improve to Boost Hopes for Title

Fabinho has recently told reporters that the Liverpool football club needs to find solutions to overcome deep-defending clubs after their recent dip in performance. The Reds’ push for the title in the Premier League has slowed down by successive draws, with Manchester City as the reigning champions only three points behind them.

Leicester City and West Ham United have both managed to frustrate Liverpool within a space of a week. It is for this reason that Fabinho stated that certain adjustments are required to maintain their lead in the Premier League.

Fabinho’s Comments on Liverpool

“We have loads of confidence,” the right-back for Liverpool stated. “We enjoyed a sensational December that was near perfect, but we are currently experiencing a dip that needs to be rectified.

“It’s nearly impossible to explain how this happened to us. I think the teams we are playing against now are sitting extremely deep. Therefore, we need to do things differently, and perhaps we aren’t achieving this at the moment as we are unable to find the necessary spaces.

“Usually, we want to attack through the middle, and this becomes quite a problem against defensive and physically strong clubs. We seriously need to find solutions, but in the last few matches, we haven’t.”

Liverpool in the Premier League

Manchester City managed to return to the top of the league after they beat Everton in a 2-0 victory on Wednesday night. However, the Reds have a game in hand as they will host Bournemouth on Saturday at Anfield.

“We want to be more superior when it comes to football every single day. However, this is not currently happening at the moment,” Fabinho stated. “We are well aware of our quality, but we are also aware that we can do much better.

“If we can improve on our quality, we will maintain our lead in the Premier League. However, talking about it and actually implementing it are two different things. Personally, I’m not too stressed about it. However, we understand that we have to give more in our next game to succeed.

“Defeating Bournemouth is vital if we wish to maintain our 3-point lead. We are only looking at the next match, and we have our eyes set on beating Bournemouth.

“After this weekend, there are loads of difficult matches we need to conquer. Fortunately, we will have a few key players back, allowing the manager more options during these games.”

James Milner has also stated that Liverpool should actually enjoy their time at the top of the table instead of seeing it as a burden. Milner, who has claimed two league winner medals when he was at Manchester City is well aware of the pressure that goes with a title race in the Premier League.

Obviously, there’s still a long way to go before the season comes to an end. However, if Liverpool can make the necessary changes to their squad, they should be able to win this year.

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Super Bowl 53 – What to Look For

The Conference Championship that took place on Sunday saw huge upsets in both the AFC and NFC divisions, leaving us with a glorious Super Bowl 53 matchup between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams from Atlanta on 3 February 2019.

Don’t you think the conference championship on Sunday was the greatest ever? Both matches went into overtime which is actually the first time that this has ever happened. For the 4th time since the merger occurred, both road teams managed to win. Therefore, we have the New England Patriots facing the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 53 from Atlanta at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium to look forward to. This will also be the third time that the NFL title will be hosted in Atlanta.

Super Bowl 53 Betting Analysis

Super Bowl 53 is essentially a rematch. The Bill Belichick/Tom Brady dynasty with the New England Patriots started on 3 February 2002, in Super Bowl 36 as Brady was leading a 20-17 upset against the favoured St. Louis Rams. This will be the 9th Super Bowl appearance for Belichick and Tom Brady and the third consecutive Super Bowl which is kind of absurd. Only the Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills have reached at least three consecutive Super Bowls.

The Rams and Patriots last played in 2016 during the regular season where the Patriots won an easy 26-10 at home. However, the Rams back then were awful and were still coached by Jeff Fisher.

New England Patriots

Brady and the Patriots looked extremely mortal during the regular season this year, but that all changed during the playoffs. The Patriots didn’t have any issues during the Divisional Round when they faced the Los Angeles Chargers and managed to upset the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime. Sony Michel played a big role during the Chiefs game, accumulating 113 rushing yards and two scores. He currently has five rushing touchdowns in the postseason. Fans also shouldn’t be surprised if this is the last game for Rob Gronkowski.

Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams are home during Super Bowl 53. They are incredibly lucky to be here following one of the worst calls in the history of the league on a pass interference that managed to benefit the Rams when they played against the Saints. If that was called, and the league admitted that it should have been, the New Orleans Saints would have won due to a field goal during the final seconds of the match. Instead, the Los Angeles Rams managed to tie the game on a late field goal and managed to win it on a field goal during overtime thanks to Greg Zuerlein. The Rams are currently the best NFL team on the road with a 14-3 record over the past two seasons which includes playoffs.

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Super Bowl 53 Predictions – New England Patriots vs Los Angeles Rams

Before the 2018/19 NFL season, the Patriots and the Rams were trendy selections to reach Super Bowl 53 for completely different reasons. The Los Angeles Rams were the up-and-coming bully in the NFC with a fresh new roster, while the New England Patriots were considered an established team that was reloaded with AFC power after appearing in Super Bowls for two consecutive seasons.

Why the Rams Could Win Super Bowl 53

Super Bowl 53, in some ways, features contrast in Atlanta. In others, the Patriots and the Rams are more similar than fans might believe. Bill Belichick from New England and Sean McVay from the Rams are the longest-tenured and youngest coaches within the NFL, respectively. However, both of them are widely respected. A huge chunk of the key starters for the Rams were acquired during 2018 through free agency or trades versus just a handful for the Patriots. However, the number of players for the Rams who were drafted is 28, while that number is 29 for the Patriots.

Obviously, some of those acquisitions that were made by the Rams is the primary reason why they will have the edge over the Patriots when Super Bowl 53 rolls around. Les Snead, the general manager for the Rams, had a clear mission to improve the overall defense of the team to complement the potent offense the team already had. The key players that were used to achieve that mission included Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters, and Ndamukong Suh.

Los Angeles Rams Defense

Some might argue that the defense of the Rams underachieved during the regular season as they managed to allow 24 points on an average per match which placed them 20th in the league. However, that defense of the Rams managed to hold the Saints to 23 points and 290 total yards which included overtime, during the NFC championship match.

On the other hand, the defense of the Patriots that were ranked 7th in the league with a 20.3 point average per match during the regular season managed to slip during the postseason against the Chiefs and Chargers. The 29.5 point average that the Patriots allowed in both those matches is the most out of all teams in the playoffs.

However, Sony Michel, the running back for the Patriots, has been the league’s most productive rusher by far during the postseason. That is exactly why Suh is considered such an important player when it comes to the Super Bowl.

The Patriots will see a Rams run defense that managed to rank 23rd in the league who will most likely produce another run-heavy game plan which will be a similar approach to what they faced during their games against the Chiefs and Chargers. However, New England haven’t faced the Donald and Suh defense duo before which might be a huge problem for them.

The Rams will have the best player on their side in Donald and due to their timely roster-stuffing, they certainly have the best team on the field when they face New England.