Miami Heat Locker Room? Drake Gets Denied

I know I'm a few days late but every time I see this video it makes me chuckle. The best part is the commentary of the guy videoing it all, "Drake getting turned down, Drizzy Drake!" And man does he look sad.

With My 32nd Birthday Approaching...

...I thought I'd have at it creating a list of who I consider to be the best player to wear the number 32 in sports--MLB, NASCAR, NHL, NFL and NBA--I'm going to pick one from each sports in honor of my 32nd birthday.

"Lefty" was straight nasty with the 32 on his back

MLB

STEVE CARLTON. The lefty won four Cy Young Awards with the Phillies, amassed 4,136 strikeouts, was a member of two World Series champions and racked up 329 career wins. Needless to say, he's enshrined in Cooperstown. The number 32 has been widely used in baseball as a pitchers' number until recently (Josh Hamilton, Jay Bruce). The likes of Roy Halladay, "El Presidente" Dennis Martinez, Sandy Koufax have also donned thirty-two on their back.

NASCAR

RICKY CRAVEN. How can I not go with the man who has the only two wins from the #32 car in NASCAR history? The #32 has raced 715 times and won only twice--both Craven.  Ricky Craven, currently an ESPN analyst, piled up over $9.5 million in career earnings. Way back when, in the late-70's, Dick Brooks was the man behind the wheel of the #32 car. Though Brooks never won in the #32, he placed Top 5 eighteen times. Ricky Craven, not Ricky Bobby

NHL

CLAUDE LEMIEUX. This was a tough one for so many reasons but Lemieux found the back of the net 379 times during his 21-year NHL career. He also registered 407 assists and 1,777 penalty minutes. "The Grim Reaper" Stu Grimson was my next pick followed by Dale Hunter but Lemieux won out. He won four Stanley Cup championships and a Conn Smythe Trophy. His 80 career playoff goals are ninth all-time in NHL history.

NFL

JIM BROWN. Gotta go with him, right? Sure, Orenthal James (OJ) Simpson was a hell of a player but in nine seasons, Brown ran for 12,312 yards and 106 touchdowns. OJ wasn't far off, rushing for 11,236 yards but only 61 touchdowns (in 11 seasons). Then he went out and killed some people, got acquitted, then proceeded to rip some people off and then I lost interest. Brown made the Pro Bowl in all nine of his seasons and led the league in rushing eight times. Marcus Allen was considered for the mere fact that he couldn't be tackled in Tecmo Bowl for Nintendo. Guys wearing #32 now include RB Maurice Jones-Drew and FS Devin McCourty.

NBA

ERVIN "MAGIC" JOHNSON. It could have gone to Julius Erving had he not switched to the #6 late in his career, but Magic was just that. Dude won five NBA Championships with the Lakers  A three-time NBA MVP and three-time NBA Finals MVP, Johnson is the best ever to wear #32. He was as well-rounded a player as the game has ever seen. He scored, he rebounded and he dished out dimes (19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 11.2 APG). His assist number place him atop the NBA's all-time assists-per-game list ahead of John Stockton (10.51) and Chris Paul (9.82).

--

Just thought I'd throw this one together to celebrate my 32nd birthday. Have a great night--here in Connecticut, it's been raining all day and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon. 

My 5 - Logo Madness - MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA

My best four current logos from each of the "major" sports - photos only - I didn't include the MLS even though one of their owners is very optimistic.  Logos are in no particular order.

MLB (logo, NOT cap design)

Yankees are just a classic logo to me as is the Dodgers.  Everything looks better in a circle it seems, as Oakland can attest to.  The Rockies just resonates with me and even though I'm not a Mets fan, the skyline in the background is big league.


NFL (logo ON the helmet)

The Ravens is just a bad ass looking helmet and how can you not love the Buccaneers, there's a pirate on it!  The Bengals is designed like the animal, the Chargers is simple yet effective, and how can you argue with the Silver & Black of the Raiders?


NHL

So glad the Islanders went back to this and got rid of the fisherman.  Oil dripping on the Oilers logo and the simplicity of the Canadiens (the "H" is for "Hockey", not "Habs").  The Sabres incorporated sabres and Buffalo and made it work while the musical Blues logo works, even though it is pretty silly.


NBA

The Pacers logo is simple and letter-based while the new-school Thunder logo simply looks sharp.  The Rockets logo looks like a rocket taking off and how can you not think of #23 when you see the Bulls logo?  Back again to the "everything looks good in a circle" when you look at the Warriors new logo.


I'm tired, time for some zzz's.

Cool Names - Sports Edition

There are a lot of weird names out there in the world. 

Navaeh seems to be popular because it's "heaven" backwards.  God Shammgod is a guard from Providence by way of NYC.

Here's a collection of some unique names from the sports world, in no particular order.  I'm aiming for active players only.

1. Kila Ka'aihue - first baseman for the Oakland A's, not surprisingly from Hawaii
2. Captain Munnerlyn - cornerback for the Carolina Panthers, but he is not the captain
3. Dirk Nowitzki - forward for the Dallas Mavericks, it's just fun to say .. Dirk Dirk Dirk
4. Placido Polanco - utility player for the Phillies, talking about fun to say
5. Richie Incognito - guard for the Miami Dolphins, but he's undercover
6. Bronson Arroyo - pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, long hair don't care and he's with the band
7. Jon Jay and Lance Lynn - outfielder and pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, because everyone loves saying names that begin with the same letter
8. Kaka - soccer player from Brazil, just because it makes you laugh
9. R.A. Dickey - pitcher for the New York Mets, just because it makes you laugh
10. Metta World Peace - forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, who is serving a suspension for elbowing James Harden in the head, ironic

That's good for now.  

3 ↑, 3 ↓

THREE UP

1. April 4 - St. Louis Cardinals vs. Miami Marlins.  First pitch scheduled for 7:05pm.  Josh Johnson will be doing the honors.  PLAY BALL!
2. Kansas vs. Kentucky tonight for the National Championship.  I have nothing invested in the game so will probably watch it for five minutes.
3. Carrie Underwood.  She honed her inner (and outer) Angelina Jolie and showed her stems on the red carpet before the ACM Awards.

   

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THREE DOWN

1. New York Knicks giving their fans another reason to hate them by announcing Lin's season-ending injury after the playoff ticket deadline passed.
2. Ryan Leaf. Two days after being arrested for burglary and possession of drugs, he was arrested again, for ... ... ...the exact same thing.
3. Ubaldo Jimenez throwing at Troy Tulowitzki.  Jim Tracy said it best: "It's the worst I've ever seen. I've lost all respect for him..."  Regardless of the "bad blood", it's spring training.  Suspend his ass!

Where's Lin?; Today in D1 Baseball

Jeremy Lin and his leadership seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur.  After losing 118-105 to the aging Spurs last night, the Knicks are in the midst of a three-game skid. 

Here are Lin's numbers during the current slide:

• 16 ppg - not bad
• 5.3 apg - not great for a point guard
• 3 TO/g - meh
• 3.3 rpg - no big deal, he's a guard

Gone are the days of 8+ assist games.  A 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio seems average in the NBA - for the year, Lin is at 1.71 : 1.  Where, oh where has the Jeremy Lin of old gone?  Maybe he went by way of Tebow - people are figuring out his weaknesses and exploiting them.

On to the baseball diamond.  Thursday tends to be a slow day on the baseball front with most teams travelling and/or preparing for a weekend series with a Friday night opener.  There are a few games on the slate, however.

Northeast Game of the Day
Miami-Ohio (4-7) vs. Sacred Heart (1-6)

I know this isn't truly a "northeast" game but they're one of only three teams from the region in action today - Yale (vs. Bowling Green) and Penn (vs. Western Michigan).  All three games are down in Florida.

Miami-Ohio blew a 3-2 lead in the ninth against the #13 Miami-Florida Hurricanes yesterday, so that should give them some confidence going into today - even though they're riding a four-game losing streak.  The Red Hawks are hitting .278 as a club but have only managed 15 XBH (13 2B, 2 HR).  Two of their three starting pitchers have ERA's over 12.00.  Not exactly a recipe for success.

Sacred Heart had a nice win over Pitt on Tuesday to get them in the W column but dropped their game with the Panthers yesterday, 5-4, despite outhitting Pitt 13-9.  With only seven games under their belt, it's hard to get a real feel for the Pioneers offense - they've got just 7 XBH (5 2B, 2 HR).  The thing that jumps out - besides the 13.41 team ERA - is the .937 fielding percentage.  They're averaging 2 errors per game.  They have to get that cleaned up, especially playing on nice fields out west and down south.

VERDICT:  SHU 11, Miami-Ohio 6

Rondo'd; NCAA BASEBALL

The Knicks went to Boston hoping to prove themselves ... again.  Jeremy Lin played his college ball not far from TD Garden, but he (and the Knicks) got Rondo'd.  To the tune of 18 points, 20 assists, and 17 rebounds.  You know the only other two players in NBA history to record a triple-double of at least 15-15-15?

Oscar Robertson and Wilt Chamberlain.

Oh, and Paul Pierce dumped in 34 to help support Rondo.  Lin had a decent fourth quarter but wound up with more TO's than assists (6:5).

On to something I know a little bit about - college baseball.

SPOTLIGHT

I'll start with the little known New Jersey Tech Highlanders.  At 4-2, my man Mike Cole has these guys headed in the right direction.  Two games over .500 is uncharted waters for the program, but knowing Mike, these guys will stay hungry and keep scrapping.  They've got three very good weekend arms and a lineup that can do some things.  The return of OF'er James D'Aloia, who missed 2011 with a freak accident prior to the first game, will certainly help their chances.  Dude is hitting .500 with two bolts, two doubles, and 11 RBI through the first 6 games. 

They beat down the Hornets of Delaware State on getaway day 18-4 and 4-2, thanks to 23 hits in the first game and a last-inning grand slam in the second.

They head down to Carolina this weekend to take on the Blue Hose of Presbyterian in a three-game set before capping the trip to Wake Forest for a single game.

Keep an eye on the boys in red down in Newark.

Trending on (Fat) Tuesday

• Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has made a decision about his future - after this season.  Problem is, he hasn't made it known which way he is leaning ... keep playing or starting the Hall of Fame clock.
• Today is Fat Tuesday, officially marking the end of Mardi Gras down in New Orleans.  Maybe the Hornets will finally stop wearing those ugly purple, yellow, and green uniforms - although it did help them knock off the Knicks and put a pause Lin-sanity.

• Everyones favorite Manny, Manny Ramirez, has signed a minor-league contract with the Oakland A's.  He'll have to serve out his 50-game suspension of testing positive for banned substance.  Not sure what kind of impact he'll have, but it's sure to put some asses in the seats.
• Deron Williams was the first point guard to go head-to-head with Jeremy Lin a few weeks ago as the Knicks began their magical run of Lin-sanity.  The Knicks won the previous matchup but Williams was having none of that this time, pouring in 38 points in helping the Nets ruin Carmelo's return to the lineup.
• College baseball is off and running.  #1 Florida took two of three in a home series against #19 Cal State Fullerton to open the year.  #4 Stanford pounded #11 Vanderbilt into submission with a three game sweep in Palo Alto. 

#FF; Super Bowl Prediction

This edition of Follow Friday will focus on a sports figure from the four major sports in the US - hockey, baseball, football, and basketball.  The fifth will be a wild card.

• Michael Grabner - LW/RW for my hometown NY Islanders tweets all the time
• Rudy Gay - F for the Memphis Grizzlies, my team du jour in NBA Jam
• Dave Diehl - OL for the NY Giants, because offensive lineman don't get enough credit
• Peter Moylan - Pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, tattoo aficionado, funny guy
• Vanilla Ice - ice, ice, baby - a tweet machine

Have a great Super Bowl weekend.

Prediction:
Giants 23 - Patriots 13

OVERKILL x 1,000

National Signing Day.  A huge day for a college athletic program regardless of sport - baseball, football, basketball, soccer, swimming.

Today was football.

And if there is a synonym for overkill that can somehow multiply the word by 1,000, that was it.  I am miffed, completely and utterly miffed, as to how there can be rankings on over 150 kids at eash position throughout the country.

It's absurd.  There is no way in hell every kid who plays college football can be ranked - and I know they all aren't - but it seems like it.

There aren't enough people out there to corroborate rankings.

And the fact that there was coverage on ESPNU throughout the entire day makes me want to gouge my eyes out.  Luckily, there were hundreds of other things to choose from on television - each more interesting than signing day.  Unless you're a die hard college sports fan who knows about incoming recruits.

College basketball all over the place right now .. I'm flipping between UConn at #14 Georgetown and Georgia Tech at #21 Florida State. 

UConn can't make a bucket ever since Georgetown went to this zone defense.  They're up 2 and haven't scored i n over 6 minutes.  Ugly basketball, reminds me of Big Ten hoops.

The Durant-Westbrook show rolls into Dallas tonight to take on Dirk and the Mavs.  It's on the mothership, ESPN.

Nolan is getting done with his bottle, Lindsay is out to dinner, Nathan is sleeping on his bed near the window. 

Switching off this UConn game, they are tough to watch right now.  Napier is a joker.

Three Up, Three Down

Time to talk about three up and three down from the past weekend in sports.

3 UP

• Kyrie Irving - Former Duke star - for a year anyway - hit a layup with 2.6 ticks left as the Caveliers stunned the Celtics, 88-87, in Boston.  The layup capped a 12-0 run to close the game for the Cavs, who are tied with the Bucks for the 8th playoff spot. 
• Novak Djokovic - After winning the Australian Open in a mere six hours over Rafael Nadal, Djokovic has now won four majors in the past 12 months.  Pretty remarkable.  If he wins the French Open, he'll hold all four major championships simultaneously.  Pretty dominating.
• Towson Men's Basketball - There is finally reason to smile at Towson - they won.  The win, over UNC-Wilmington (8-13), snapped a 41-game losing streak for the Tigers.  It was their first win since December 29th, 2010 at LaSalle.

3 DOWN

• UConn Men's Basketball - After a pair of losses to Cincinnati and Tennessee, this game against Notre Dame at home was just what the doctor ordered.  Freshman phenom Ryan Boatright was back and they were at home.  None of that mattered as the fell at the hands of the Irish, 50-48.  The Huskies fell to 4-4 in Big East play, they dropped out of the Top 25, and their schedule doesn't get any easier - they travel to #14 Georgetown on Wednesday.
• NFL Pro Bowl - For starters, Hot Chelle Rae performed the pregame show.  Yeah, I know, who?  Second, the game started off with a rain of boos from the seats fans as the first series was......unispired, to say the least.  The AFC won, 59-41.  At one point, the center and a defensive lineman stood straight up on a play and didn't move.  No, really, they didn't move.  Terrible display from the NFL on this one.
• Knicks Basketball - The hype at the beginning of the season suddenly seems a distant memory with fans kicking themselves for believing this year would be different.  The Knicks got blasted by the Rockets on Saturday, dropping them to 7-13 on the season.  Maybe they need to share the ball a little more - they're averaging a paltry 18.5 assists per game.  If they weren't shooting nearly 80% from the free throw line, they might not have 5 wins.  Pretty pathetic considering MSG is the "mecca" of basketball.

Trending Tuesday

This is what's trending to me, not necessarily the rest of the world.

1. Coachella - the annual music festival to end all festivals, held in Indio, California, has announced the 2012 lineup.  For the first time, it will span two weekends - April 13-15 and April 20-22.  The headliners:  Radiohead, The Black Keys, and Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.  Passes for the weekend are $285.  At The Drive-In and Refused are staging reunions as well, which is sure to sell some tickets.
2. NBA Jam - the Sega Genesis classic is available on iTunes for $0.99 - yes, that's not a typo.  I bought it and thoroughly enjoy playing it, even though I chose the Memphis Grizzlies as my team.  Only issue I have is that the rosters are not updated to reflect the current NBA season, but I hope that issue might be resolved in an update.  O.J. Mayo is my guy and I tend to partner him with Rudy Gay.
3. Astronomy - I have been avidly using my telescope at night, trying to get some glimpses of outer space.  The moon is easy to find.  The stars are easy to find as well, there are a million of them.  Trying to figure out which ones are which is difficult, but it's fun.  Jupiter, the "gas giant" still eludes me, however, but I am going to keep trying.  I've joined astronomyforum.net in hopes of getting some insight into what I need to do and to keep up with what's happening up in outer space.
4. Nolan - he woke up.  I'm signing off.

Who is Norris Cole?

Who would you guess are the top three scorers for the Miami Heat?  James.  Wade.  Cole!?!

Norris Cole, a 6'2" guard from Cleveland State is making quite an impact early on in his rookie season.  He's listed as Point Guard but only has 2 assists through two games, so I'm interested to see what his role will be moving forward.

Averaging 13.5ppg through the first two games, he's more than likely going to unseat Mario Chalmers as a starter for the Heat.  It's still very, very early in the season but there always seems to be a story like this one.  He went from the Horizon League's CSU Vikings to South Beach playing alongside the likes of LeBron and D-Wade.  And for Norris' sake, I hope he maintains the early success.

Cleveland State you're probably thinking, who the hell are they!  They were 27-9 last season and are off to a great start again this year (11-2) including wins at Vanderbilt, Wright State, and Rhode Island - they've only played 4 home games through their first thirteen.

They've produced five NBA players - Franklin Edwards, Darren Tillis, Clinton Smith, most notably Jim Les, and now Norris Cole.  Cole is the cousin of Eagles defensive end Trent Cole who is having another great year for the underachiving Eagles, recording 43 tackles to go along with 10 sacks.

Hailing from Dayton, Ohio, the rookie averaged over 21ppg during his senior year at CSU.  He was drafted by the Bulls in the 2011 draft, was then traded to the Timberwolves, and finally found his way to South Beach.

Norris Cole.  A name you might want to make note of, even if you can care less about the NBA, as is often the case with me.

NBA in NY/NJ...

...has gotten a wee bit better in the past few days.  Still not enough to keep my attention, but hey, at least they're making headlines for something positive.

The Knicks got former one-year-wonder at Syracuse and Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony as part of a 13-player deal.  Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony on the same team is a pretty lethal combination - but the same can be said for the Heat.  The Knicks lost almost 51% of their scoring in the trade - for one player.  Not such a great deal.

Today, the Nets - yes, the Nets - traded for point guard extraordinaire Deron Williams for two players and two draft picks.  That's a pretty good deal - 21 points per game and 9.7 assists per game?  This guy has been a premier point guard since he came into the league.  Now they just need some players to finish.

At least the NY/NJ basketball teams are making an attempt to get better.

Go NY Go NY Go!

Tragedy in AZ; Oh Duke!; Heat get Cooled Off & Karma's a Bitch

This Jared Loughner guy is some piece of shit.  This phenomenon is something that seems to happen all too often.  But who's at fault? 

Police?  Not really.  You can't expect them to keep an eye on every single person alive - scouring profiles, internet posts, articles; interviewing friends, classmates, acquaintances.  It's not realistic. 

The guy?  Probably.  His parents?  Unless they're legally blind in both eyes, then yes.  They're just as much a part of this mess as their son.

I am not waxing poetic about what it takes to be a parent (Lord knows I have no idea, but I'll let you know come April).  But this is your son, your flesh and blood.  You can't tell me they don't speak or communicate with him.  I  know it's wrong to judge a book by the cover, but this guy looks the part of a killer.  He's looks like a cold, deviant, psychopath. 

He kept articles on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in a safe.  What do you keep in a safe?  Money?  Jewelry?  Family heirlooms?  Chocolate even.  But the things you generally associate with being kept in a safe are things that hold some value to you.  I never had a safe.  If I had, I probably would have put my Frank Thomas (The Big Hurt) baseball card collection in there - instead, I stuffed them into shoe boxes.

Communicate.  I am 29 years-old and speak with my parents regularly.  He was what, twenty-two?  As parents, you have got to see something wrong, abnormal, off with your son.  All it takes it communication.  When I was twenty-two, I spoke with my parents regularly.  Maybe this guy's family was a pack of jackasses, or maybe they were just too dumb to see what a monster they had raised.  Were they embarrassed?  Afraid of him?  Ignorant?  Blind?  I'm going with all of the above. 

What happened was a tragedy.  Are there more people like this loser running around out there in the US?  Yes.  Are we gonna stop them all?  No.  Just make yourself aware of the people you surround yourself with.  If someone looks shady, chances are they are.  If you hear them talking about creepy shit, walk the other way and/or tell the police.  Be safe friends, family, co-workers, Blog Army!

On a lighter note (for some), sports.  As you already know, #1 Duke lost in Tallahassee last night to the unranked Seminoles.  There was no inside game for Duke, the shooting was horrid, and they made this Derwin Kitchens guy look like Michael Jordan.  Miles Plumlee is soft which directly related to their lack of an inside presence.  Five points and five rebounds a game?  You're 6'10" tall.  Act the part.  Thirty-one percent shooting?  35 three-point field goals attempts?  15 turnovers to 9 assists?  It seems like every time they play down there, they lose (it's actually only the third time in 9 years).  Derwin Kitchens?  10.2 PPG on the year and he goes off for 22 points?  Put a hand in his face, the guy was 9-13.  Anyway, it was a good run as #1, we'll see how far they fall from here.  Back to Cameron Indoor for a game against the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday.  (I'll be stuck at Draddy for a Manhattan game).

NBA basketball sucks.  Except when the Clippers (13-24) beat the Heat (30-10) and LeBron James gets hurt, all in one night.  I don't wish ill upon anyone, but this guy just runs his mouth left and right.  Blake Griffin is a BEAST (24 pts./14 rebs. - 30th double-double this season).  LeBron only sprained his ankle, so he probably won't be out for long, but he tweeted about karma the other day when the Lakers pumped the Cavs by 55.  Soon after, karma bit back.

Time to get busy!

MJ Poops on The Decision Maker

HA!

Another Boston Celtics Calamity

K.G. calls Charlie V a "cancer patient" - trash talking is certainly something that's gone on in all of sports for decades, but this one just crossed the line.  Read the article, you'll see what a dickhead K.G. is.  And as far as Villanueva's tweet about getting Garnett into a ring and exposing him - I bet he would.  Granted, Villanueva looks a little different (he has alopecia universalis - no hair on his head or eyebrows) but that's uncalled for.

K.G. thinks he's a real bully - I'm sure Mauldin, SC is just as tough a place to grow up in as Queens, New York.  New York City basketball has always been a matter of survival of the fittest (read: toughest).

Let's do a city by city comparison based on the information Wikipedia offers.

Mauldin, SC - 8.6 square miles - 15,224 people (circa 2000) - 74.25% White, 20.82% African American, 0.30% Native American, 2.24% Asian - median income per household of $51,657 - notable natives are K.G. and Orlando Jones (the 7Up guy)

Queens, NY - 109.24 square miles - 2.229 million people (circa 2000) - 44.1% White, 20% African American, 17.6% Asian - median income per household of $37,439 - notable natives include John Gotti, 50 Cent, Rodney Dangerfield, Run DMC, Johnny Ramone, Donald Trump, and John McEnroe.

Charlie V would wreck you K.G.  Shut your mouth, keep cancer out of your trash-talking lexicon, and just play the game.

Just another example of the renegade NBA not patrolling it's players.  Stay hot.

Sounding off on the NBA

  I've rarely (read: I can only remember one) wasted time formulating thoughts about the NBA here on WRT (besides that one time I remember in April, when the Spurs were about to TKO the dimwitted, Mark Cuban-led Mavs), and this story I just came across backs my decision to ignore the NBA altogether in this type of forum.

  Time to sound off.

  Yahoo! Sports writing Kelly Dwyer reported yesterday that the NBA has banned players donning their headbands upside down - a trend apparently started in 2007.  Apparently, you aren't ballin' unless you flip that Jerry West logo upside down.  I am still trying to wrap my head around how the hell this actually constitutes a story in this early NBA season. 

  Here's two things I'd rather write about concerning the NBA:

  1. The fact that the Celtics original and older Big 3 defeated Miami's new and improved Big 3 in Boston on opening night and the very next night, the LeBron-less Cavs beat the original Big 3 in Cleveland.  Parity. 

  2. The Knicks and Nets won their openers and are sitting atop the Atlantic.  The last time this happened?  Funny enough, it was only the 2008-2009 season (NYK def. Mia 120-115; NJ def. Was 95-85).

  I digress.

  Rajon Rondo (known primarily for being a great PG and secondly for his headband-wearing) has decided against sporting his headband - simply because he wants to wear it upside down.  Maybe in some past life, he was a ninja (see: SF Giants closer Brian Wilson's 12-minute ninja class) and was able to stand on his head, but something inside me highly doubts that.

  Wearing the logo of the league you play for, the one that includes the team that pays you millions of dollars a year to dribble, pass first, and shoot second, is straight disrespectful.  Utterly disrespectful.  Wear it right or don't wear it at all (which is exactly what he did).  The equivalent of this is Josh Hamilton out in center field wearing his Texas Rangers hat backwards.  It's something that just doesn't belong.

  Ms. Dwyer's final light reads like this - "Why? Because, yes, the NBA is that petty."

   Petty?  Really?  Petty?  Defined:  Petty [pet-ee] -adjective 1. of little or no importance or consequence.  2. of lesser or secondary importance, merit, etc.  3. having or showing narrow ideas, interests, etc.

  In my opinion, this is absolutely the right thing for the league to do.  Many, many years back, they traded in the Larry Bird/John Stockton shorts for the modern day baggy, looser fitting garb.  They changed the pre- and post-game dress code a few years back in an attempt to clean up the league's image.  The league needed a facelift and with all the nonsensical bullshit that surrounds this league (Gilbert Arenas' gun problems, Chris Anderson's tattoo problem, Kobe's alleged rape years ago, yada yada yada) it seems to me that it's players have a hard time controlling themselves off the court.  It gives the players like Dwayne Wade a bad rap who always does community service projects (built and renovated church for his mother) and genuinely seem like decent guys.  I could be totally off the mark with my thoughts on DWade, but I'll back him. 

  Maybe all this behavior starts from what goes on between the lines.  There are rules, and I applaud the league for putting an end to this degradation of an NBA legend and logo.  Well played David Stern, well played.

  I can go on with this for another four hours and address plenty of other topics I haven't even begun to talk about.  But I won't, because this dog crap of a sport will not consume any more of my time.

  Jerry West, you will always be standing on your feet if (and that's a big if) I even wear NBA gear (or a headband).

Spurs-day

The Spurs are looking to close out the Mavericks in 6 games tonight, with a home game at 8:00pm on TNT.  I hate the ever-loving shit out of Mark Cuban - his antics are old, his comments are lame, and his WWE skills are poor.  Timmy and the crew have better shut it down tonight at the SBC Arena, because heading back to Dallas, where they are 1-4 this season, will be a daunting task - #1, DAL will go in having won the last 2 games, and SA has to win a Game 7 on the road, with the Little Troll sitting front row.

Boy, I'd like to see ex-Net Richard Jefferson step-up and score more than 4 points in 32 minutes - that's like .125 points a minute - and that ain't good.  He seems to have taken every other game off in this series -Game 1 - 4 points, Game 2 - 19 points, Game 3 - 6 points, Game 4 - 15 points, Game 5 - 4 points.  Good thing it's an even-#'d game.  I'm saying he lights it up for 18 points tonight.  He needs to play aggressive on the offensive end, Tony Parker said it, and I'm agreeing with him - he seems to know his stuff. 

Now I am not a big fan of the NBA, but I plan on watching this Game 6 tonight, and wearing my Silver and Black (helps being a Raiders fan).

Spurs in 6 on Spurs-day.