Page 14 - 6-2-15 Tuesday's Edition

SportsJameis Winston Impressing With His
Mayweather’s $500K Diamond District
The Tampa Bay Lightning's Playoff
Work Ethic In Bucs Camp
Spending Spree
Here is a potentially fun factoid if you like hockey his- tory and are still interested in the mystique around the NHL's Original Six franchises.
With their Stanley Cup Final matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks set, the Tampa Bay Lightning are the first team in NHL history that will play four consecutive Orig- inal Six teams in the playoffs.
Keeping in mind, of course, that the NHL didn't have four rounds in the playoffs until 1980.
They have already done something that only a small handful of other teams have done.
To reach the Final, the Lightning already went through the Detroit Red Wings (in seven games), Montreal
The Buccaneers have found their first issue with quarterback Jameis Win- ston, already running into something he struggles with.
“We have to kind of tell him when to leave,” Bucca- neers coach Lovie Smith said.
That’s not a bad problem to have for any rookie, much less the first overall pick in the draft. While he wasn’t at Thursday’s practice because of the NFLPA Rookie Pre- miere event in Los Angeles, getting in enough work hasn’t been an issue.
Smith said he took dou- ble reps Wednesday to make up for the absence, and it was his best day of work so far.
“For him, there’s been a lot of individual work, but having a chance this week to go against our best defense and things like that [has been good],” Smith said. “We have a long ways to go. But we like where he is right now.”
Likewise, teammates have praised Winston for his work, and for always having his playbook on him, and being ready for whatever they throw at him, which has been a lot.
“He didn’t have his train- ing wheels on or anything like that,” Smith said. “We’re kind of throwing him out there and he’s handling just about everything we’ve asked him to do.”
LeBron James Vs. Stephen Curry:
JAMEIS WINSTON
Floyd Mayweather and his entourage stroll through the Dia- mond District.
Mayweather tries on jewels at Pristine Jewelers.
How does the world’s most famous boxer celebrate a $200 million victory?
Not by going to Disney World — by hitting the Dia- mond District.
Three weeks after his May 2 bout against Manny Pac- quiao, welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather, Jr. was spotted cashing in his winnings for watches, diamonds and gold chains in a half-million- dollar Saturday-afternoon shopping spree on 47th Street.
The world’s richest athlete hit up two of his favorite jewel- ers, with an entourage of hulk- ing bodyguards — one toting a briefcase full of diamond-en- crusted watches and a mysteri- ous bag.
At a small jewelers kiosk called Flawless at the corner of Sixth Avenue, he plunked down “hundreds of thousands of dollars” for timepieces.
He has been going to the modest jewelry stand once a month for eight years to buy bling and bring in “old stuff that he’ll have upgraded or downgraded for himself or someone he’s with,” an insider said.
“You can come to my house in Vegas. I have nothing but a palace,” “Money” May- weather told a salesman be- fore he left.
His next stop was Pristine Jewelers NYC, where he whipped out a hand-scrawled shopping list that included a Cuban-link yellow-gold neck- lace for $35,000 and a dia- mond chain for $55,000.
Under the heading “Floyd,” he had listed two $15,000 watches among other items.
Although much of the Dia- mond District is closed on Sat- urdays, Mayweather said his bling binge couldn’t wait, telling Pristine’s owners, “Open up the store, Money never sleeps!” insiders said.
The Tampa Bay Lightning
Canadiens (six games) and New York Rangers (seven games), which makes them just the fourth team since the league expanded beyond six teams in 1967 to beat three consecutive Original Six teams.
Basically, the Tampa Bay Lightning are every hockey purists worst nightmare. A team from Florida competing for the Stanley Cup and knock- ing off the NHL's storied Orig- inal Six franchises one by one along the way.
Journey Through The Original Six
Seahawks' Bennett Wants New Deal
The temptation here is to paint these NBA Finals as the legendary, experienced player against the upstart underdog.
LeBron James is le- gendary — whatever happens in these finals and future ones, he will go down as one of the greats to play the game. He is experienced, this being his fifth consecutive Finals. He is as physically gifted a player as the NBA has ever seen, but one who also has an incredibly high basketball IQ. His stardom was pegged and followed by the time he was a high school sophomore.
Stephen Curry was an underdog — the skinny shooter couldn’t get big time colleges (or even a lot of mid-majors) interested in him, so he de- cided to go to Davidson. He led them to the best seasons in program history. He entered the NBA Draft as an underdog, pegged by many as just a shooter he fell to seventh be- fore being picked up. But teams underestimated his will to get better, for example how good a ball handler he would become. He’s a guy fans relate to because he wasn’t given su- perlative physical gifts, he had to work for it — he’s how many fans like to see themselves.
But that is just the surface of these two players. Just the part of the iceberg you can see.
This pairing is much, much more than that. Both players are much more than that.
Which is why they are at the heart of what makes this a compelling NBA Finals.
• These men are more than just their simple caricatures.
If you paint LeBron as the guy pre-ordained for great- ness, as the Goliath in this sit- uation, you overlook his difficult upbringing. More than one talented young man got lost on a road far less bumpy, and with far fewer turns, than the one LeBron had growing up.
LEBRON JAMES And STEPHEN CURRY
If you paint Curry as the underdog who overcame in- credible odds, you overlook that his father was an NBA player, a guy who grew up comfortable and around the best in the game. He had the advantage of that privilege.
LeBron certainly had ad- vantages as he grew into an NBA player — only Wilt Chamberlain was this much more physically gifted than his peers. Curry certainly had rough times and struggles that he had to work hard to over- come. The caricatures of these men are not entirely wrong.
Fans love them for all of it.
• They also are arguably the two toughest players to guard in the league — but they domi- nate the game in very different ways.
LeBron can beat defend- ers almost any way he wants, drive past bigger ones on the perimeter or back down smaller ones into the post. That (and key injuries to team- mates) is why he has worked much more in isolation during these playoffs. His combina- tion of size and speed — along with a steady jumper — allow him to get his shot in that set- ting, but if the defense rotates over his passes will find the right open man.
But it is LeBron vs. Curry that will capture the nation’s imagination and attention for a couple weeks. They are the faces of their franchises.
This will go down as the LeBron vs. Curry NBA Fi- nals. The only question is which one will get the Finals MVP award.
Michael Bennett’s
presence at a dinner in Belle- vue, Wash., for his founda- tion Friday speaks to his stated desire to put down roots in the Seattle area.
But in comments before his dinner and auction to raise money to fight child- hood obesity, Bennett ac- knowledged he has asked the Seahawks for a new contract and for now is staying away from organized team activi- ties in hopes of getting a new deal.
Bennett is entering the second season of a four-year contract worth up to $28.5 million, with $16 million guaranteed, signed in March 2014, just days before he could have become an unre- stricted free agent.
That ranks him tied for 14th in average salary per year ($7.125 million) among defensive ends in a 4-3 de-
Seahawks DE Bennett wants a new contract.
fense.
Bennett said he would
like to be paid at least among the top eight at his position.
According to Overthe- Cap.com, that would give Bennett a yearly average salary of $10 million.
“Not a lot of guys play in- side and out (both tackle and end). Not a lot of guys do whatIdo.SoIfeellikeI should be somewhere near there,” he said.
More Than Meets The Eye
PAGE 14 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 2015