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Sorry, I've been out with a sore Cutler. Updates galore coming soon.

Heat Crunch Time Highlights!

LOL.

LOL.

25-years ago, Len Bias did this.

Get me this out-of-bounds play!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Steve Francis waived by Grizzlies. Damn . . .

I just read that Steve Francis was waived by the Memphis Grizzlies today. Whenever I hear that name a lot of memories come flooding back to me for several reasons. I first met Steve Francis, though I didn’t know his name at the time, at Gary William’s Basketball Camp in College Park back in 1990. At the time, I was working for Gary as Camp Commissioner, basically just overseeing the coaches and players at the camp. It was a summer ritual for me from 1989, Gary’s first year, right up until the National Championship run in 2002. I met a lot of great coaches and players over those years, and many of the coaches have moved on to other positions in the years since. Guys like Billy Hahn (who was the reason I was there in the first place), now at West Virginia with Bob Huggins, Dave Dickerson (Head Coach at Tulane), Jimmy Patsos (Loyola of MD), and Mike Lonergan (Vermont). There was always a ton of talented high school coaches there as well, guys like Mike Glick (now at Gwynn Park, formally at St. Vincent Pallotti and Archbishop Spalding) and Josh Pratt, now at Towson Catholic. But I digress . . . back to Steve Francis.

During camps there is a break between morning and afternoon sessions as well as afternoon and evening sessions. During these so-called “free times” the campers would organize pickup games in Cole Field House. They would also do this before Roll Call in the morning and after camp concluded in the evening (There was always a couple of hours to kill before curfew at 11:00 P.M.) These games would normally involve the older campers, and usually some of the camp coaches would participate, usually younger guys who were players at colleges along the east coast. Sometimes pro players would stop in for the late games. I remember Chris Webber and Manute Bol along with several others stopping in.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Just in: 2009 Detroit Lions Football Schedule


A buddy of mine who was born in Detroit sent this to me. I thought it was worth a post. Pure comedy:

2009 LIONS SCHEDULE

September

13..................... Taft Junior High School
20......................Cub Scout Troop #101
27..................... Detroit Academy for the Blind

October

04.....................Dominos Pizza Detroit Staff (free pizza night)
11.....................Bloomfield Hills Senior Center
18.................... Eloise Mental Hospital
25.....................Girl Scout Troop # 353

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

NBA Quotes: The Bottomless Pit 'o' Entertainment

That picture has nothing to do with this at all, but I think Jaokim Noah's a clown and wanted to prove it.

Anyway, since we're in a bit of a lull sports wise at the moment, let's pull out that old sure-fire source of amusement - dumb quotes by NBA players. Lest we forget that most of these gentlemen aren't Rocket Scientists, here ye be:

I’ve had to overcome a lot of diversity.” — Drew Gooden. Ah, good old Drew. He of the funky hairstyle. Man, it had to be tough overcoming all that diversity growing up Cali.

We’re going to turn this team around 360 degrees.” -- Jason Kidd, after being drafted by Dallas. Uh, Jason, that would bring the team all the way back to where it currently is, get it? Aw, never mind.

"It’s almost like we have ESPN.” — Magic Johnson, on his relationship with James Worthy. And speaking of his relationship with the ladies, he said it was like having Cinemax.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

94-1.

On Tuesday night in Colorado, Greeley's Frontier Academy defeated Justice High School by a score of 94-1. The score was 48-0 at halftime. Here's a quote from the winning coach:

“I’ve had 100 points scored on me before, and I think it’s important to respect the game and to respect your opponent,” Frontier Academy coach Nathan Buxman said. “We show the most respect for our opponents by continuing to play hard.”

Bullshit.

Nathan Buxman (I refuse to call him "Coach') is an idiot, a moron, and several other things that I won't mention on a fine website such as this one. And please, spare me the "I'm not going to tell my players not to play hard" load of garbage. Here's why.

A team learns nothing basketball-wise in humiliating a team by 93-points. Here's a novel idea - tell your second team to work on their offense, turn it over, work on their cuts and screens. Sure, play defense hard but for God's sake don't press. The fact is that any team, no matter how good, will be forced at some point (by a well coached team) to slow it down and run their offense. I hope that when this happens to Greeley's Frontier Academy they won't be able to do it because they were too busy making layups against inferior opponents to work on that aspect of their game.

My 25% success rate and I will now predict this weekend's games. Place your bets accordingly.

I know, I know, I really did well last weekend. I missed the first three games only to come back valiantly and nail the Pittsburgh game. Me being a glass is half full kinda guy, I view this as ending on a high note. I'm on a streak if you will. Therefore, I'm going to see if I can up my average this coming weekend. Here we go:

Philadelphia at Arizona, 3:00 P.M.

Philly is on a roll, having beaten Dallas to get in and then the Minnesotas and the defending champion New York Giants on the road. Here's the deal though - I still don't believe. Dallas was just bad, the Vikes weren't any better, and the Plaxico-less G-Men weren't as good as advertised. Combine this with the fact that they have zero sacks in the playoffs and I'm seeing a huge day for Kurt Warner. Plus, the Eagles cannot run the ball worth a damn. So kids, I'm picking the Arizona Cardinals to get to the Super Bowl. Read that again slowly. The . . . Arizona . . . Cardinals.
Arizona 35, Philadelphia 21.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Rickey Henderson to be inducted into baseball Hall of Fame, greatest-ever acceptance speech awaits.

Rickey Henderson. I can't type the name without smiling. I know, I know, I'm supposed to be old school, and I normally don't have much time for many of the pampered, spoiled athletes that abound today. Still, Rickey was special. Some of his antics were so off-the-wall you just had to laugh. The cat was absolutely clueless as to how clueless he was, and therein lay the beauty.

Here's a sampling of some of my favorite Rickey moments:

Back in '99 when Rickey was with the Mets, he asked a teammate why there was so much press around. He was told the team had fired Tom Robson. "Who's he?" Rickey asked. Robson was the Mets hitting coach.

When Rickey was with the A's, the front office was all a-twitter about a huge mistake over in accounting. Turns out Rickey had taken his million dollar bonus check and, rather than cash it, framed it.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Playoffs? PLAYOFFS?!? I got your playoff picks right here.

Hey, we're down to the Final 8 in the good old NFL with some great games slated for this weekend. Here's my take on what's in store:

Baltimore vs. Tennessee

The Ravens are currently the sexy pick for a lot of people over at the World Wide Leader in Sports, but I ain't buying it. Jeff Fisher can coach, the Titans are at home, and the Ravens have a rookie QB. Tennessee 21, Baltimore 17. Update: Wrong. Ravens win. I'm 0-1.

Arizona vs. Carolina

Nobody is giving the Cardinals a chance to win, and they're right. Carolina will control the game on the ground and Arizona's surprising ground attack from last week will disappear. Carolina 31, Arizona 21. Holy crap. How did that happen? Arizona dominates. I'm 0-2.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Paterno Adds to Haunt List

In case you hadn't heard, after Penn State was steamrolled by the USC Trojans in last week's Rose Bowl, someone cut the "coke-bottle" glasses off the Joe Paterno statue on the east side of Beaver Stadium.

OK, like every other Big Ten fan I too was dejected, sickened and nauseated by the shellacking that Penn State took that night. We hear it every year, windbags like Mark May insist "the Big Ten doesn't have the team speed for USC." And I sat and watched and seethed, as usual. So many people wanted JoePa to win that game; it seemed like it was meant to be. I think I even teared up a bit at the pre-game promo celebrating JoePa's storied career. However, when half-time came around and the shell-shocked Nittany Lions limped back to the locker room, JoePa failed to inspire, failed to come up with adjustments and even failed to trudge down to the locker room and give the boys a pep talk. I know he's 125 years old, but I just would have felt better if he had high-stepped it down there in his high-water khakis and put his foot in someone's ass. I'm sure many Penn State faithful felt that maybe this time, JoePa wasn't up to the task.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Beanie Wells to enter NFL draft. Does he have what it takes?

Man, I love the Buckeyes. They've been buried by the national media over the past few years so much that I hesitate to even talk negatively about them. The many positives about Jim Tressell's program have been overlooked recently, with the talking heads instead focusing on the big-game losses, the Maurice Clarett fiasco and the general incompetence of the Big 10. Hell, every time the 2002 National Championship has been mentioned the last year or so there seems to be this perception that the interference call "gave" Ohio State the game. Not true. The Buckeyes earned that win by outplaying, outcoaching, and outhitting Miami, plain and simple. I watched a replay of the game just the other day. It couldn't be clearer.

With all that being said, let's talk about Chris "Beanie" Wells and his declaration to enter the NFL draft today. I gotta tell you, I have a ton of questions as to whether he's going to make it. Now before you start going crazy, hear me out. There's obviously no doubt the guy has the tools, body, and athleticism to be a big-time NFL back. He never runs out of bounds and has a jackhammer stiff arm that has stoned some of the best linebackers and defensive backs around. All that, however, makes it even harder to watch when he gets up makes one of his all too familiar flights to the sideline.

So Long, Fudge.

Shoe's recent photo of Dickie V prompted a search in my archives for the one you see to the left - Billy "Fudge" Packer at his new job. Yes that's right, Billy Packer was (finally) shown the door by CBS this year. Now The Final 4 will be plausibly watchable with Clark Kellogg alongside Jim Nantz.
Now, I'm not as down on Vitale as Shoe may be, but he does have his faults. While Dickie V slurps and name drops all over his pals during broadcasts, he does bring a certain charm that was totally unnoticeable in Packer's surly demeanor. Vitale has become a caricature of himself, almost cartoonish. however he is positive and upbeat.
Packer was such a negative, self-absorbed bastard that he was just unbearable for me to listen to. Dickie V is good for the game; Packer tried his best to tear people down. Not to mention, Vitale has tirelessly worked on behalf of The V Foundation in the name of his late friend, former NC State coach Jim Valvano, to raise millions of dollars to research the cure for cancer. Packer once hired a psychic to find the weapon in the O.J. Simpson murder case.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Duke Vitale set to crossover, hoops nation cringes

Nah, don't worry. He's not going trannie on us or anything, although I just know he wears that Duke cheerleader uniform under his suit from time to time. Actually he's crossing over to do an NBA game on Wednesday. It's Heat vs. Nuggets, which isn't a great game anyway so this just guarantees I won't watch. Still, I can set the stage for you. Here's what to expect:

  • Lots of slurping and slobbering over certain players, most specifically Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, but especially Wade. Dick is one starstruck mofo.
  • A quick look at the rosters shows one Dukie, Dahntay Jones. He's sure to get an extra mention or three regarding what a "quality kid" he is. Oh, wait. Shaun Livingston was supposed to go to Duke but instead went straight to the NBA. He's sure to get admonished for that somewhere along the way.
  • Gotta have some Coach K references as well. The over-under is 3 by the way.
  • You'll get a minute or two explaining why Michael Beasley just needs some "time to adjust" and that everybody needs to "have patience" with him.
  • If Chris Quinn gets in the game, look out. A white point guard from Notre Dame is sure to be described as "intelligent," "gutsy," and "hard-nosed." Wait for it.
  • Chauncey Billups will recieve the full Vitale blow-job as well. He'll be a "winner," a "team player", and of course a "PTPer."
  • This was mentioned over at The Big Lead, and I agree. Our boy Daquan Cook will surely be admonished for going to the NBA too early and not spending another year at tOSU, refining his game.

Man, that chick beside me is smokin'.

Imagine waking up and seeing this on ESPN. I look like I'm having a stroke back there. Good Lord.

Imagine waking up and seeing this on ESPN. I look like I'm having a stroke back there. Good Lord.

3:30 AM, after the Louisville game.

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