Interview with Derrick Favors

"Forgetting pressure from Obama, I think that LeBron will end up wearing a Knick jersey."

No wonder why Brett Favre came out of retirement! It isn't easy taking a 7-8-week hiatus and I didn't even leave yet. So I have a list of interviews for after camp, but first lets take a look at a premier NBA player (or in an hour he will be).

If you followed NBA mock drafts you saw this guys name listed after the top two players, John Wall (Kentucky) and Evan Turner (Ohio State). That is Derrick Favors, the 6' 10" power forward, freshman from Georgia Tech. Favors at just 18, is rumored to be selected by the New Jersey Nets at tonight's NBA Draft (7 ET on ESPN). This soft-spoken giant took the time out of the happiest day of his life to do an interview for The King of Sports Blog. Here we go:

BW: What are your NBA goals?

DF: To win championships and to be considered one of the best players in the game.

BW: Who is your idol and why?

DF: Kobe Bryant because how hard he works and plays and that he is a good person overall.

BW: When did you know that you were great?

DF: My senior year in high school I knew was going to be drafted into the NBA.

BW: Who do you look forward to playing against?

DF: Everybody and anybody who is in the NBA.

BW: Are you nervous to become a top NBA draft pick?

DF: No, I’m not nervous. I’m ready for it and ready to work hard and improve my game.

BW: What has been the best opportunity that has arisen for you because you are such a star?

DF: Being able to go to the NBA and to the Draft in New York.

BW: What advice do you have for someone trying to get better at basketball?

DF: The biggest thing is to work hard and keep your head on straight and work hard.

BW: Will you be comfortable being a New Jersey Net tonight considering that trading you and many other picks is possible throughout the summer?

DF: Yeah I'm comfortable. I’m happy to be here at the NBA Draft no matter where I go.

I left out something important on my [not so] farewell posting. Where LeBron James will land! I think that LeBron will go. I don't think it is where Mr. Favors will be drafted which probably is New Jersey and I don't see him as a member of the Miami Heat. So that leaves my state, New York, and the other city I love, Chicago. Forgetting pressure from Obama, I think that LeBron will end up wearing a Knick jersey. I feel like I am going to barf saying that because that is what I never imagined, but all the pieces aim to New York. With Tom Izzo not going to Cleveland that said that he loves Michigan State, but that LeBron was not a guarantee in Cleveland, but if he signed with the Cavs, all signs lead to his hometown. Comment below on your LJ23 picks.

The End

No, The King of Sports Blog hasn't reached its final post ever, but just the final post for the next 7-8 weeks. On Saturday, I will be leaving for summer camp for 7 weeks. I had the option to continue and have interviews posted automatically throughout the summer, but chose against that because I would rather start of August with a splash of great interviews. Currently, I am compiling a list of phone numbers of athletes that I want to call for interviews after camp. I will have interviews with a Hall of Famer in two sports guaranteed when I get back. What I want my readers to do is to shoot me an email with the subject: "I want an interview with..." and inside the email give me 5 names of athletes you want me to interview. Email KingofSportsBlog@aim.com. I want you also to pass around my link to friends and family to show them where to check out my older posts.

Check back August 15, the day I come home for an interview with Ma.. It's a surprise

Before I leave you, let me make some summer predictions:

• The Mets will fail to trade for Cliff Lee/Roy Oswalt, but will trade for an average pitcher
• Chris Johnson will not hold out of playing due to contract issues, but Darrelle Revis and Albert Haynesworth will
• The Twins will trade for Cliff Lee

If I continue, my jinx will continue and I will jinx all of these predictions.

Thank you for being such loyal readers for this year and the past years.

Brad

Interview with Mark Sanchez, New York Jets Quarterback

Mark Sanchez. Where can I start? The Sanchise took the New York Jets to the AFC Championship game last season. His great personality has led him to appear with Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live and to present at the Tonys. Sanchez threw for 2,444 yards last season with 12 touchdown passes. Here is my interview with No. 6:

BW : What did you learn from Carson Palmer by being his ball boy? [When Palmer, the Heisman winner and quarterback for the Bengals, was in high school, Sanchez was his ball boy.]

MS : It is one of those situations where you watch him so much every day in practice and games and then.... My dad and I would go to the practices at UC Irvine and you would see how he was always the same person, he would always say hi to us and ask how our family was doing. I learned from him off the field and saw how great of a player he was and teammate. I would see how nice of a person he was and how that affects how you are viewed the team chemistry and all that. As much as I learned on the field, I learned off the field.

He has always been a great person so it was great to see that. All the coaches talked about him as a great guy and a great player and same with his teammates. He was a good friend who happened to be a good football player, not the other way around.

BW : What are your career goals as a Jet?

MS : We gonna win a couple of Super Bowls. We got so close last year. Once you get so close you see the time and effort it takes and you see what it's all about. It really helps pulling in your focus on what you really want. That is the ultimate goal. All of the other stuff will come. Touchdown passes and the individual accolades come along with your team being great and special. The chance of winning a Super Bowl in a city like New York, there's nothing like it. Once you win one, you get that bug to win another one, that edge.

BW : Which coach did you like playing for more: Rex Ryan [coach of the New York Jets] or Pete Carroll [coach of the Seattle Seahawks, but Sanchez's coach at USC]?

MS : They both were perfect for what I needed at the time. Coach Carroll really helped you develop as a person and a leader and as a competitor. He was so big on competing. I was a competitive guy growing up. That definitely helped and enhanced my competitive edge. He taught me what it meant to compete and how to respect your opponents and so many other life lessons that he taught me, along with a lot of X's and O's from football along with Coach [Steve] Sarkisian [coach of the Washington Huskies, former offensive coordinator at USC].

Once you get to this level in the NFL, you are expected to have those skills and that ability to compete and to know what it is all about. When I got to be with Rex, I needed someone who could help take the pressure off me as a freshman quarterback in New York, make me laugh at all times, and some one who at the end of the day will do anything for you.

Some of those games last year felt like some of the worst days in my life because I was playing so poorly at certain parts of the season and there was only one guy who I could go to and that was Rex. The only one who knew how I felt and understood what I was going through and wanted to be there for me. They were both great coaches for me to play for and I recommend them both, but I felt that they both fit at the right time in my career. I'm pretty fortunate to have that.

BW : Were you nervous going into the playoffs with all of the hype from Coach Ryan?

MS : I don't think so. I think that's what we believed. We felt like we slandered an opportunity at the end of the year like we weren't going to make the playoffs after the Atlanta game and we knew we were a playoff caliber team, but we just didn't perform like it and there's no other way to prove it than to get into the playoffs at the last minute. Win and we're in.

Then it's like, "None of these other teams want to play us." We were in that bracket where we are the bracket buster team like in the NCAA tournament and no one wants to play us because we run the ball so well and because I started playing better and taking care of the ball better and our defense will just beat you up. We got to a situation where our guys would line up with the guys across the ball and be like, "They don't want it on this play, they don't want it on the next play, they're not going to want it for the rest of the game."

That's just the kind of football that Rex loves and the kind of attitude that was contagious throughout our locker room. We feel that way now. I don't think anybody wants to play our team because the way we run the ball and now I got a year of experience under my belt. Who knows, we might be able to play a little better and then teams will really be in trouble if we have the same kind of defense as last year. I think the nerves kind of went away when Rex talked to us and told us and that was all we thought about.

BW : What was the favorite game of your career so far?

MS : The highlights have to be my first start at SC at home against Arizona. I loved that game. Also the Rose Bowl my last year. My first game as a Jet against Houston was pretty good. I guess the San Diego [playoff] game. It felt like I was on a home team. We had a hundred plus people there. I had twenty of my best friends in a box next to Adam Sandler. It was great because he is a huge Jet fan. So he had a suite right next to theirs. My best friend Scott was going crazy the whole game.

San Diego had to have been cool and at Cincinnati. That was weird because I have never watched the other team's offense. Even if we're playing Brady or Manning, you don't really get a chance to watch the other team's offense. But when we played Carson, I made sure I got to watch him a little bit. It was pretty cool.

BW : What didn't you achieve in your college career that you wanted to?

MS : Maybe a National Championship, but other then that I never grew up dreaming about winning the Heisman or anything. I felt those individual things come when your team's great, but winning a National Championship would've been nice.

We came so close we just lost to Oregon State. That was a team we could've beat. After the way we played against Penn State, I think we could've beaten Florida or whoever played in the National Championship that year. I don't know if they would want to have played SC.

BW : What celebrity that you haven't met do you want to meet the most?

MS : I don't know. I have met quite a few being in New York. I'm big in the athletes. I love meeting other athletes. Guys that I have gotten to know are Joba Chamberlain [Former TKOSB Interview], CC Sabathia, A-Rod, and Jeter.

You come to New York and you want to meet all of the superstars there and hang with them and talk to them and ask them questions and learn. They have all been so open to helping me and giving me pointers and tips: to protect myself and be smart. That's hard!

Thank you to Mark and his brother and agent, Nick, for helping with this interview. Thanks for tweeting my blog out. Mark has organized a suite at the new stadium for every reader of this post. Just kidding!

Readers coming up Bill Walton and George Foreman!

Interview with Rick Cerone

Rick Cerone was a New York Yankees catcher. When Thurman Munson died, Rick Cerone was his replacement. He played for 8 teams in 18 seasons and played in the 1981 World Series. He owned the Newark Bears for 5 years from 1998 to 2003. Here is our interview:

BW: What was the most difficult part of your career?

RC: First getting to the big leagues, then lasting 18 years.

BW: What was the best moment of your career?

RC: Playing in the World Series in 1981.

BW: Who was your idol and why?

RC: Mickey Mantle because he could do everything.

BW: What current player are you similar to and why?

RC: No one now. I was one of a kind. (laughing)

BW: What was it like owning a pro baseball team? [Newark Bears]

RC: It was lots of hard work running a team, staffing, players, and getting fans.

BW: What is different from baseball currently and when you played?

RC: They make way more money, and seem to be enjoying it less.

BW: Did players use steroids when you were in the middle of your career?

RC: Steroids started with Jose Canseco in 1987 and I never witnessed them.

Interview with Gaylord Perry

Are you excited for the next Hall of Famer interview? Well The King of Sports Blog presents this interview with Gaylord Perry. He won 314 games in 22 seasons. Here is our interview:

BW: What was the hardest part of being a Major League player?

GP: Winning was the toughest part.

BW: Who was your idol and why?

GP: I didn’t really have one guy. Great friends like Juan Marichal and Willie Mays.

BW: What current pitcher are you most like?

GP: I don’t think I was like any other.

BW: What was the best opportunity that came up for you due to the fact you were a star pitcher?

GP: Opens some doors for you, to meet nice people, and travel.

BW: What were your goals as a kid in the majors?

GP: Try to get years in so you could get a good pension.

BW: What would you be if you weren’t a major leaguer?

GP: I didn’t think about anything else.

BW: What is worst for the current game: high salaries or steroids?

GP: I don’t think theres any bad parts. The game is all good. It gets better every year. I like the current game.