Update

B.B Sports (Buzzer Beating Sports), and SofA (Sports of America) are glad to announce that we will be merging as one company, effective of 11/18/2014. We will be renaming the company Big Four and More (www.bigfourandmore.wordpress.com). As time goes on you will see small changes as a function of the merging but, you will still get the same great news just a new name. 

The Questionable Future of Jozy Altidore

After a hamstring injury in only the 22nd minute of group play, striker Jozy Altidore was out of the World Cup. Since then there has been a lot of buzz about the young strikers future.

Altidore started his professional career with the New York Red Bulls. Since then he has been on many other teams, his best season was with AZ Alkamaar where 39 of his shots found its way to the back of the net. But since then he joined the Premier  League Club, Sunderland. Lately he hasn't gotten much time on the pitch and has only scored one goal in league play during the two years since he joined Sunderland. Soon after Altidore was signed to a deal reportedly worth $13 million,  Paolo do Canio was fired. The new manager Gus Poyet doesn't have Altidore in his plans to be a contributor on Sunderland's offense.

After Landon Donovan's last USMNT game on 10/10/14 Altidore said: 

 “But like I said this four years I want to be part of the national team. Jürgen makes his message very clear, nobody is different, so if it doesn’t turn around then in January I’ll be looking to start elsewhere and make sure that I’m in his plans.”

Altidore has many clubs interested in acquiring him in the winter transfer window. He is expected to come back home to the MLS, but lately Jürgen Klinsmann has expressed publicly how he doesn't think the MLS is good for his national team players: 

"I made it clear with Clint's (Dempsey) move back and Michael's (Bradley) move back that it's going to be very difficult to keep the same level that they experienced at the places where they were. It's just reality. It's just being honest."

Klinsmann's opinion could effect where Altidore ends up. Members of the national team are moving in and out of the MLS. Jermaine Jones recently joined the New England Revolution, but Deandre Yedlin is playing for the Tottenham Hotspurs next season. We will have to wait and see if the competition in the MLS effects performance on the world stage. I think that Klinsmanns's long term goal should be to advise the youth and current players to join the MLS. This would create a domestic feed of good players for the years to come for the national team.

There is already one team ruled out, the LA Galaxy. This became know on twitter when Altidore tweeted and later deleted:

"@LAGalaxy really? Stop blowing up my agents phone then. No means no."

I think that he will end up with the New York City FC which is an expansion team that will play at Yankee stadium. I think this because NYCFC will have one of the largest fan bases in the MLS which is what Altidore needs. He should have practice being the center of a team. With this experience he can step up for the national team as the captain. It is exciting to think about the potential Altidore has if he plays on a club team where he is the centerpiece. 

Curt Shilling Shared His Thoughts on Evolution With the World

Curt Schilling is a man of many hats. He’s played for the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Boston Red Sox. He also tried (and failed) to start a video game company and most recently, he’s tried to disprove Charles Darwin’s

theory of evolution.

Schilling took to twitter this past Thursday night and sent out an initial offering of his thoughts in the form of a YouTube video created by Trey Smith.  This one hour and twenty minute audiovisual titled “Evolution: Modern Myth (100 WAYS to KILL DARWIN’S EVOLUTION)” must have seemed less than scholarly as it triggered challenges and snide remarks from scores of followers that he has been fielding throughout the entire weekend. 

The ensuing conversation seemed to touch on many of society’s key issues including same-sex marriage and the validity of the Bible. Huskies, bats, worms, sharks, and whales all got shout-outs as well.

Some conversations got so heated that Schilling felt the need to post up pictures of a stitched up ankle in defense of accusations of a fake ankle injury the 2004 American League Championship Series along with a collection of World Series rings. 

I must say, it’s cool to see a famous athlete interacting so much with his followers. However, Schilling may have picked the wrong can of worms to open up. Either way, the result is a very entertaining Twitter timeline.

The example. Every living creature came from one cell? Show me the fossils of the beings that became humans, before they were humans...
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) November 13, 2014

Found this in an old folder, for all you ketchup dinks.. pic.twitter.com/DuJiCQfE9M
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) November 12, 2014

Giancarlo Stanton's Potentially Record Breaking Contract to Stay in South Florida

Giancarlo Stanton made $6.5 million in 2014. He is now in talks with the Miami Marlins for an extension to stay in South Florida. This isn't just any contract, it has the potential to be the largest contract in sports history valued at 13 years $325 million. He would pass Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera who currently holds a contract through 2023 (10 years total) valued at $292 million. Many other clubs have been interested in Stanton, but I don't think they are willing to fork over this sum of money to take over a contract for such a long period of time. The Marlins who finished at 77-85 in 2014 had trouble this past season bringing in fans despite Stanton's 37 home runs tying him for second in the MLB with the Houston Astros' Chris Carter. Stanton has had at least 22 home runs in all 5 of his MLB seasons. With this deal the Marlins are paying for him to keep on hitting 30+ home run season for the rest of career. This seems very unlikely, but if he continues his most recent play, there will be a lot more excitement in Miami after the past few years with little to none.