Another Black Eye

Wow. I mean, I don't even know where to start. This could be a huge hit to the NBA's image. The two biggest knocks against the league were that the league was full of thugs, and that the games were fixed (horrible officiating could be a third). That the first allegation is true is up for debate, but the second allegation just mentioned by me just might be true.
First, the guesses as to who it may be. The Feed has found Cover's NBA ref stats page. Nothing really alarming except for Jess Kersey's 18-42-1 record ATS. Darren Rovell just said that it isn't Joey Crawford. More to come, including odds on who I think it is.

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NBA Draft Recap

Not many times are the praises of Isiah Thomas sung. June 28, 2007 is one of those rare days. With the moving and shaking the Knicks did on Thursday, they are now a playoff team. They landed one of the few legit 20-10 guys in the league for a sack of dung. Come here to find someone singing the praises of Kevin Pritchard? Look somewhere else. What an idiot. It's like he was thinking, "We need a small forward, you know what, lets take a center so we can trade our star power forward, instead of taking the best player in the draft, who fits an immediate need at the 3."
Then what do they do. They don't even get a small forward back in the Randolph trade. How dumb is that? This brings up another point, who exactly is scoring for them next year besides Brandon Roy. They will struggle to score 90. Congrats Mr. Pritchard, you just knocked your own team out of next years playoffs.

Quick bullets of the other moves I hated:

• Spencer "Bust" Hawes to the Kings. If they're going to trade Artest (and they are), then why not take Al Thornton? Man, these teams are stupid.
• Yi to the Bucks. For more on this, let The Sports Guy take over this indefensible pick.
• Julian Wright to New Orleans. Hey we desperately need a 2-guard, lets take a forward.
• Anything the Suns did. Can't wait for the day when all 12 guys on their roster retire the same year. Trade Diaw already.
• Nick Fazekas to the Mavs. Austin Croshere clone. At best.

And the ones I liked:

• Al Thornton to the Clip Joint. Man Beast. He's a starter if they trade Maggette.
• Jared Dudley to Charlotte. Adam Morrison, this is the bench. Stay there.

And thats it. Most of the picks were good picks. How could you go wrong in such a deep draft? Well, unless your name is Kevin Pritchard.

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Goodbye Sopranos

I feel obligated to make a post about The Sopranos, one of the best shows in television history. Never in my life would I think about missing part of the NBA Finals, as boring as they are, to watch a TV show. But this is different. Maybe if the show had one iota of predictability, maybe if Paulie didn't have wings for hair. Maybe if A.J. wasn't such a great actor*.

So I'm left wondering what will happen during the finale. The popular opinion is that Paulie will kill Tony. But what about the no-rat clause in Tony Sirico's contract. I think that the Feds will play a big part in it. I hope that Chase makes every person still alive relevant (including Corrado) in the finale. Lets all hope its memorable, without the typical Hollywood ending. Oh yeah, long live Paulie.

Photo: Paulie Walnuts by Mikey-A

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Who is exactly to blame here?

Sometimes I feel like quitting the NBA. My first memories of basketball are Reggie Miller scoring eight points in the last eighteen seconds to beat the Knicks. Since then, I have always been a huge fan of Reggie Miller (broadcasting career aside). I also became a fan of all clutch players. When Reggie decided to retire, my new favorite player became Mike Bibby. I also fell in love with the Kings. I developed these kinships after their epic series with the Lakers in 2002. I still remember going to my dad's apartment that night, wearing a Lakers shirt. I have never worn that shirt again. I watched nearly all the games in that series (except games 1 & 5). I felt bad for the Kings when Horry hit that shot. When I look back, if Vlade had deflected the ball two feet either left or right, the Kings win 2-3 titles. No question.
The next season everybody expected them to win the title. I attended the game where all hopes came crashing down. I was in Row J. I remember Christie, Pollard, and somebody else carrying C-Webb to the locker room.
Everybody since knows the rest of the C-Webb era in Sacramento. The Kings still remain my favorite team. They will until they trade Bibby. But damn I love Kevin Martin. The team I have taking a liking to is.....to no surprise the Phoenix Suns. I still think they should have not traded Joe Johnson. I've read McCallum's book twice. I have done a complete 180 on Nash. I hope they win a title someday. (Note to asshole/prick owner Robert Sarver: For the good of the league, please pay the luxury tax next season by keeping Marion and not drafting Mrs. Noah)
What does this have to do with anything? I'm not sure. It's just that if I look back to all of my NBA-related heartbreaks, they can be traced back to one man: Robert Horry. I used to like him. Not anymore. Thank you Mr. Horry. You have just went from possibly the best clutch role player in history to a complete jackass. But something good might come out of this. They might change the 2nd worst rule in sports (only the Tuck Rule stands in its way), the leaving the bench rule. I hate you Mr. Horry. Good Riddance.

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How to Fix the Mavs

Ok, terribly sorry for the month or so that I took off (not like any of you noticed). Big things have happpened. The Mavs get knocked off by the Warriors. I saw it coming. I don't believe that this is the biggest upset in NBA history. Everybody outside of the extremely biased Dallas media knew that Golden St. had a chance to knock off the Mavs. I will continue to stick by my theory that you will never win a championship if Dirk is the best player on your team. At the same time, I don't know if I would trade him straight up for KG. Garnett has slipped a little the last two years. Should the Mavs trade Dirk? If they want to win a title anytime soon, the answer should be yes. The Mavs should trade everybody on that roster not named Josh Howard. They need to turn the Devin Harris-Jason Terry combo into a point guard who can consistently find the open man, either Jason Kidd, Marcus Williams, Luke Ridnour, Andre Miller, or Jamaal Tinsley.
With that being said, do you think Dallas would offer Terry, Harris, Damp, Mensah-Bonsu and a No. 1 for Tinsley, Jermaine O'Neal, and David Harrison? That would give Dallas a starting lineup (tentatively) of Tinsley-George-Howard-Dirk-J. O'Neal. I think that is better than that Jump shooting crapfest that had out there before.

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Does anybody listen to Collin Cowherd? Hopefully Not

Well, please don't anymore. Earlier today on his (apparently highly rated) radio show he told all his listeners to go to a Web site so that site could crash. Seems like harmless fun, and Cowherd probably doesn't think the site would actually crash. The site for today: The Big Lead.

Only the website that I somehow discovered one day and forever entrenched me into what is known as the sports blogosphere. From there I discovered Deadspin, KSK, and later on The Fanhouse. The rest is history.

For this I hope you pay a steep price Mr. Cowherd. Your freedom.

More on the story here and here.

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Belated MLB Predictions

MVP
AL- David Ortiz
NL- Albert Pujols

Rookie of the Year
AL- Dice-K Matsuzaka
NL- Josh Hamilton

Manager
AL- Mike Scioscia
NL- Jerry Narron

Cy Young
AL- Felix Hernandez
NL- Jake Peavy

Division Winners
AL- Angels, Tigers, Yankees
NL- Padres, Brewers, Mets

Wild Cards
Red Sox, Phillies

World Series
Angels over Padres

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Sorry About That

Wow, its been a while since I've done a post. A quick recap of the things that happened since then:


Finally, I get a prediction right as Vanilla Dong wins the 2007 NOTY Tournament.

Florida wins again.

Baseball started!!!!!!!!!!

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It's About (Tourney) Time

Here are my top few seeds as of 11:45 CST on Friday.

#1 Seeds: UNC, Ohio St., Florida, Wisconsin
#2 Seeds: UCLA, Texas A&M, Kansas, Georgetown
#3 Seeds: Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Wash St, Memphis
#4 Seeds: Texas, Nevada, So Ill, UNLV


Back with a recap of the day later

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Here We Go Again

Steroids. Baseball. Jose Canseco. Jason Grimsley. Gary Matthews Jr. Wait a second, Gary Matthews Jr. This sounds like your usual steroid bust with the usual names. Except Matthews. Here is a 32 year old who has had a marginal career, mostly as a 4th outfielder. His career stats say so.
The Texas Rangers signed him in 2004. Due to the ineptness of Kevin Mench and more notably Laynce Nix, GMJ was given the chance to play everyday. He proved to be more than your average switch hitter. His defense was superb (highlighted by a Spiderman-esque catch of a Mike Lamb homer last year). But it looks like steroids played a part in it. Its too bad. I like GMJ. I hope the stat rise was more to due with the increase in playing time than the 'roids.
Before I end this post, I would like to say one thing. Jose Canseco, I know you know how to use a computer, come up with a better excuse next time. Baseball preview coming soon.


Gary Matthews Jr. career stats (Baseball Reference)
Lawyer for Canseco says client is computer-illiterate (New York Daily News)

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NBA Top 10

My NBA Top Ten is updated every Sunday night, so check back then for the latest rankings. I will supply my analysis of each team or just a sly comment or jab. But now on to the premiere of my power rankings.

1. Dallas Mavericks
Just a notch above Phoenix right now, but only because they are deeper. (And no Barkley, Phoenix is not deep. If D'Antoni thought Banks or Pat Burke could play, then he would give them minutes. But I think Banks is good, they should play him more.)

2. Phoenix Suns
Interesting stuff from Chad Ford in his chat yesterday about the Suns having 3 first round picks and wanting to give 2 of them away. I thought next year's draft was supposed to have '03 or '96 potential. Mike D'Antoni must hate playing rookies. He does realize that Nash is going to retire at some point (right???).

3. San Antonio Spurs
Why does Ginobili do great against Joe Johnson. He scored a career high 48 against Phoenix in 2005, and now 40 against ATL. DO NOT count them out in the 2nd round.

4. Utah Jazz
Bigger disappointment this season: AK47 or Mike James????? Toss up.

5. Houston Rockets
Without Yao. Incredible. Let's just hope Van Gundy doesn't pull something like this again.

6. Detroit Pistons
Now take the East with ease with Flash out for Miami.

7. Washington Wizards
Wow, that will do it for the quality NBA teams. But be very afraid of Hibachi & Co., Detroit. I would.

8. Chicago Bulls
Should have given up Gordon and Thomas for Gasol or Deng, Thomas, and a #1 for KG. But they will continue to play grind-it-out ball and pay for it.

9. New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets
Yeah, if the playoffs started today, they would be out. I don't care. They're better than the Lakers or Golden St. right now. Plus Peja is due back soon. Just in time to choke in the playoffs again.

10. Cleveland Cavaliers
I'm excited to see how well the Bibby-LeBron pairing works out Eric Snow Era plays out in Cleveland.

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Book Review: Now I Can Die in Peace

Book Review: Now I Can Die in Peace

I am going to start a book review series. This is the first installment. "Now I Can Die in Peace" is written by my favorite sportswriter, Bill "The Sports Guy" Simmons. It is a collection of columns he wrote about the Red Sox from his early days at Bostonsportsguy.com, his old website, to the more recent ones over at Page 2.
The book is just a collection of his columns, but with some insight added in. The only major thing he did was add side notes. About 600 of them. They are hilarious if you ask me. Easily the best part of the book. Most of them elaborate on a topic or he makes in fun of something he said (like the one about calling the Nixon-Matsui match up a toss up, then Matsui proceeded to hit about .800 in the ALCS).
The main reason this book is great is it contains the articles when Simmons was on the top of his game. (Note: I only became a Simmons reader about 10 months ago, but I have tried to read every article on his Subject Archive. That is invaluable.) Some say he has become self-centered the last year. His writing has slipped if you ask me. But if you are interested in becoming a Simmons fan but can't muster up the spirit, I suggest you read the book.

Final Grade: A-

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