The Lost Art of Mini-Grilling

Todd Stinkston...

2007-08-03T23:49:00.000-05:00

Thought I would booster the redskin morale with the upcoming season...

Stinkston is just flat out afraid...I would too if had legs that skinny...are those things real?!?!

End of an era?

2007-07-18T12:45:00.000-05:00

Well, Michael Vick was indicted yesterday on charges of running a dog fighting leauge from his home. Now i've been known to rough up a few puppies or two (good stress relief), but some of the details of the killing and raising of these animals are quite insane and grotesque. If Vick is sick enough to drown and electrocute puppies, and in one case slam them to the ground, he should at least have to serve some type of sentence. For now though, It looks like the greatest rushing quarterback's career could soon be over.

My question is, do the Falcons take a shot at Daunte, now that hes available?

Happy 10,000th loss Philadelphia...

2007-07-15T21:35:00.001-05:00

In related bad franchise news, ( see two post below) and since we are constantly on the topic of my favorite "the race to the bottom", the Philadelphia phillies today lost their franchises 10,000th loss. Way to go Phillies keep preserving that trademarked Philadelphia losing. It's not like you have only won one World Series championship in 125 years or had 20 or so l100 plus loss seasons. God I can't believe no Philadelphia squads mad that list I made.....

Stay classy Yankee fans....

2007-07-13T12:17:00.000-05:00

I was at yesterday's game in the god awful trop, with the god awful Rays taking on the mildly awful Yanks, and witnessed and old woman get a beer thrown on her by a angry Yankees fan. If that wasn't enough, I saw this "gumba" looking dude (i.e., incredible amounts of hair gel, surname usually ends in a vowel, tony soprano, [insert generalized italian stereotype here]..etc ) in a Jeter jersey cuss out an old couple for cheering for their team. Way to go Yankee fans, you prove me correct every single year.

On that note, on behalf of the lowly Rays organization, I would like to welcome the Yankees to "the bottom",where the water is warm, the fans unruly, the beer flows like river of desperation; masking the awful truth of the sad state of the franchise. Get used to it Yankees, at this rate, it might be a long time till you get back to the top.

Worst of the Worst?

2007-07-13T11:38:00.000-05:00

I was thinking recently, are the Rays really theworst managed sports team?
I used to think it was Milwuake (who cares how I spell milwakee, get a life cheesehead) but it appears they have made strides in the past few years on top of their new stadium...

Coming from New England, I am a Celtics fan and they are managed by the incompent Danny Ainge, who along with the front office has ran that franchise, one of the most storied in probably all of sports, into the ground. The way I see it, the Pirates and Royals have yet to make any strides since what the 70's? 80's?
Here's my list, feel free to add to it...

1. Detroit Lions- One playoff game since 1957! Forced probably the greatest football player to retire early.
2.Pittsburgh Pirates- when was the last time they had a squad? Clemente?
3. Devil Rays- cheap owners, bad coach...[insert complaint here]
4. Raiders-need i say more?
5. NY Islanders- consistenly mediocore or awful
6. Royals- small-market team known to be cheap and involved in revenue sharing...
7. Chicago Blackhawks- not a good squad
8. Cubbies?- I love the cubs as much as the next guy, but that 97 year WS drought is a bit pathetic...
9.Buffalo Bills- You go to 4 superbowls and don't win one of them? The music city miracle could only happen to Buffalo
10. Cleveland Browns- Its only fitting that our nations most tortured sports city make my list with at least one team....

I guess you could throw the Arizona Cardinals and NO Saints on this list but they seem to at least be improving, where as these clubs do not show signs of improvement. Just cause a team is losing doesnt put them on my list, but rather a lack of progession. If I were making that list you'd almost have to put teams like the Clippers, GS Warriors, the Phillies or any Philly team for that matter.

The lions are the worst in my opinion, they just don't ever get any better,

All-Star Naz

2007-07-11T00:27:00.000-05:00

Peter Gammons on why the AL has won 9 in a row:
"People talk about the Jeter effect: he's been in 8 All-Star games and never lost."

This quote was based on the fact that Jim Leland made some comment after the game about looking over at Jeter in the 7th to find him mega-intense and into the game. And it's a good thing to, because those other AL guys had started dicking off and speaking in Spanish and if it weren't for Jeters's intensity from the bench, Orlando would've never flied out to end the game with the bases juiced.

So just to be clear: Jeter, who went O-for and made zero contribution in the field willed his team to victory. He just wanted it more than everyone else. In fact, would you believe in the past eight years no one has wanted to win more than him? And if they did they certainly didn't channel this pure willpower into victories like Jeter has.

If I were Jeter I would stop wasting this awesome ability to will the AL to victory in All-Star games and start willing the Yanks to win the big one. But that's just me.

Home Run Naz

2007-07-11T00:21:00.000-05:00

I like the decision to let little kids shag balls during the HR derby -- in our litigious society it seems so much is deemed unsafe without ever letting those inclined to try it figure it out on their own.

That said, holy shit what a bad idea.

Theoretically MLB players are the best hitters of baseballs on earth, and the HR derby group is comprised of guys known for mashing the ball harder than most MLB players. Little kids, one the other hand, aren't known for their catching or reacting or anything other than fucking around and having fun. So it makes perfect sense to put the two together. And boy was that one kid fucking around when Rios almost took his head off. As the ball hit the fence the kid finally reacted to it whizzing by his head. Awesome.

D-Ray reaction

2007-06-29T09:44:00.000-05:00

Is it just me but when the D-Rays lose, they lose is fan-torturing, hair pulling, expletive throwing fashion? I thought to understand this torture; I would consult chief D-Ray scientist and scholar Elijah Dukes, who has come up with a variety of reactions and reflexes that we D-rays fans frequently utilize….

A- The “Knee Jerk Reaction”- A staple in avid sports fans repertoire, the “knee jerk reaction” usually entails uncontrolled flailing of the limbs while screaming for one’s team. If not controlled the “knee-jerk” as it is known, can destroy tables, injure nearby puppies and causing scenes at nearby Beef-O-Bradys.

B- The Maddon Reflex- Primarily used for Devil Ray games, the Maddon Reflex causes the fan to unleash well-deserved verbal lashings to the incompetent skipper. More uncommonly, The Maddon reflex can be used for a variety of purposes. (I.E. The weather is rainy because of Joe Maddon. Joe Maddon caused Global Warming. Joe Maddon started hurricane Katrina….etc.)

C- The Expletive tosser- a personal favorite, this reflex can break up a quiet evening at a local eatery and at the same time, cause marital problems and in rare cases mentally damage a nearby youngster.

D- The Destroyer- predominantly used by the most passionate of Rays fans, the Destroyer is mainly responsible for all the broken coffee table, lamps, remotes and televisions in an avid Ray fans households.

E- The passive-aggressive- The passive aggressive is a method used by the most emotionally worn fan of them all; the fan who has seen the same season unfold year after year, game after game. The “PA” as professor Dukes calls it, simply changes the channel in the sixth inning knowing his team will blow their 5 run lead.

So what’s your reaction Devil Ray nation? Is it A? Is it all of the above?

Feel free to chime in on your reaction type and we will be sure to forward it to Dr. Dukes….

Kobayashi

2007-06-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

Speaking about going overboard, Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi, who has won six straight Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contests, suffered a serious jaw injury while training for the July 4 event, in what some are calling "jaw-thritis". Kobayashi, in case you don't pay attention to the world of competive eating, had upped the ante last year with a world record 53¾ hot dogs in 12 minutes! But word on the street is, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, recently broke that record by inhaling 59½ dogs in a Nathan's Famous regional qualifier, setting the stage for an epic showdown next month. Competive Eating? God Damn I love this country...

On Going Overboard

2007-06-26T23:21:00.000-05:00

Here are the nomines in the ESPY Best Male Athlete category:

Roger Federer
Payton Manning
Lebron James
Ladainian Tomlinson
Tiger Woods

Let's kick it Sesame-stylee and ask which one of these things is not like the other?

If you answered LEBRON FREAKING JAMES you are correct.

Lebron kicks ass at basketball and he goes to the rim probably better than anyone in the game, maybe -- excluding Shaq and Wilt and, really, all centers -- ever. But Lebron James has one major flaw: he's not even the best player in his own league.

How the hell can you be "best" if you clearly aren't the best in your own waters?

For the record, I think this sort of award/title is pointless. Ditto for "all-time great" lists. How great would Babe be with the type of technological scrutiny that goes into the scouting report nowadays (not to mention he likely couldn't crank cigars, get smashed and bang hookers, which boosted his career HR total by 241)? How great would Ali the promoter be with today's non-stop media train (TO anyone?)?

But, really, Lebron...nope.

Find me one category -- other than minutes and hype -- that Lebron lead last season and I will fart on my hand, bottle the fart and smash myself in the face with the bottle.

On a per points basis (Points + Rebounds + Assists) Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA. Lebron does have better Steal/TO and Steal/TOF which likely led to more team points, but not enough to over take KobMe Cryant.

And there aren't any baseball players on the list, WFT? What about arguably one of the best baseball players ever, Barry Bonds (for the record: before 2000 Bonds was on a pace for 700 dingers), or A-Rod who is hitting like he was in a domestic dispute episode of Cops?

How about Michael Phelps? The guy only won 6 gold medals in the last Olympics. No freaking biggie (Lebron's medal total in same Olympics: Ziltch...in fact Phelps would be the only guy on the list with a medal) And hell, how about dropping 4 new world records this year. But, nah. Lebron -- whose only record held is "Most Fingernails Digested in a Single Year" -, yeah, farrrr better choice.

Or with the Olympics including the X-Games now, Shaun White or Kelly Slater? NEWS FLASH: those guys don't suck at very hard things to do. Things some would even consider athletic.

Since this dumb award isn't confined to US athletes -- given the presence of the Swiss Beast -- what about marathon runner Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot who has owned the Boston Marathon 3 times in the last 4 years? Or Liu Xiang, the Chinamen who set a new 110 meter hurdle record this year and stands to win Gold again in Beijing? I WATCHED A RACE OF HIS AND HE BEAT 6 BLACK GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is why people hate what the sports media has being churning out latley, it always reeks of cold cash and marketing.

The Greatest Ever?

2007-06-25T07:58:00.000-05:00

I think we should all pay respects to the greatest baseball player of our era. Nope not that guy, the guy that juiced up and hit all those home runs. The man I'm talking about is Ken Griffey Jr, not only one of the greatest hitters of our era but one of the biggest class acts of all time. Despite missing 4 or so seasons of baseball in his prime, Griffey on sunday passed Mark Mcgwire for seventh all time, hitting two jacks and totalling his home runs to 584. It just so happens he hit the two bombs in Seattle, a place he had called home for some eleven seasons.

"It was more than I expected, a lot more than I expected," Griffey said of the reception. "To have that many people, for that long, cheer for you was pretty unbelievable."
Griffey kept his composure, but it wasn't easy.
"I had to take a couple of deep breaths during the ovations," he said. "It was touching, but I didn't want to start crying so I could go home and have my kids say, 'Daddy, you (were) a punk."

Lets not forget his modesty, which by the way, is second to none...

“You play long enough, you hit a few out and you catch people,” Griffey said after Sunday's game.

To me, the guy is a class act, belonging to the same class of personal favorites like Reggie Miller, Larry Bird, Troy Brown,John Stockton, Cal Ripken Jr, that I respect not just for their dedication to their orginization but the appreciation they created and the fans they entertained. I could never understand how people could not like Griffey, that calm batting stance, the way he used to absolutely cover any ball hit into center field in the infamously shitty Kingdome. Lets not forget the backwards hat and diamond earing look he made popular. I could go on and on about his humanitarian efforts and how much he has invested in the make-a-wish foundation, but I've gotta get back to work. Keep it up Griffey....

Say What?

2007-06-22T22:58:00.000-05:00

I caught Peter Gammons on ESPN radio Thursday attempting to deflect criticism from Sammy Sosa and his alleged roid usage. Mainly what it would do to his hall of fame chances It was mega stupid.

I like Peter, I think he does a good job relaying to us, the viewers, what he hears from scouts, managers, players and ownership. His opinion...not so much.

Peter was trying to equate pitchers who doctor balls to people who use roids; which is laughable, but this, this is just absurd:

"But what about Hall of Famers who doctor baseballs? I mean, a spitball could get away and kill someone, steroids never killed anyone, only killed baseballs."

Um...sorry Peter, I could link to the myriad of websites that explain just why that statement is utterly preposterous, or just say to an audience of none that you are full of shit. I choose you are full of shit.

The O.G. Roid Rager

2007-06-20T21:12:00.000-05:00

Let's not forget one of America's original steroid pioneers...

Spinach power or the power of liquid testosterone injections to the ass?

Giambi Steroid questioning?

2007-06-20T10:37:00.001-05:00

Apparantely Jason Giambi is being summoned by another Grand Jury to discuss steriods.

Really...Jason Giambi did steriods? I am absolutely shocked. I love how Selig and the rest of the Mlb execs, every once in awhile pretend that they care about steriods. It is all a game with these people; a way to keep a good repoire with the fans who don't like seeing such an american staple be tarnishe by the use of illegal substances. I've talked about it till I was blue in the face; steriods use was rampant in the 90's and to pinpoint just some of the top players (Giambi,Bonds,Canseco, McGwire) is just wrong. To me, it's like punishing people for rampant cocaine use in the seventies. As long as they don't do it anymore, who cares? Who are we to punish people for belonging to a drug-fueled era? I mean unless they change like this....

or this....

A @#!&!* Great Commercial

2007-06-20T00:50:00.000-05:00

Next time that shitty Sponge Bob No Pants BK commercial is on pretend it's this one instead.

Dukes, Redux

2007-06-20T00:32:00.001-05:00

The interview posted by Absnaz is freaking great.

Elijah Dukes says "first of all" before every statement he makes. 500 excuses later he still drops "first of all" bombs.

And his knowledge of the crack game is intense.

Elijah Dukes

2007-06-19T20:24:00.001-05:00

You can take the man out of the ghetto but you cannot take the ghetto out of the man. On 620 WDAE this morning, Elijah Dukes fired off about how he is being wrongly labeled as a troublemaker. In case you don't pay attention, the guy has six kids with five different women, threatned to kill one of them and more recently, impregnated a seventeen year old girl who was living with his grandmother. His mom came out publicly last week and stated it wasn't Elijah's fault.

This is a direct quote from his mom (seriously):
"Every time one of those (whores) lays down with my baby, they end up pregnant," she said. "That's right. And I'm tired of them."

Below is a link to the rather funny interview from this morning..

Dukes Interview

Beavers Plow ASU

2007-06-18T23:55:00.000-05:00

The Oregon State Beavers contiuned their unlikely march towards a repeat College World Series title today, destroying the 5th ranked Arizona State Sun Devils.

With the win OSU remains in the winner's bracket, likely to play Arizona State again before advancing to the championship game.

OSU is located in Corvallis...which brings us to this completely unrelated-sports-but-funny-as-hell story:

A US teenager has been arrested after he was caught on video having sex with a horse in a barn.

The owners of the barn in Corvallis, Oregon, had installed the video surveillance camera after previous assaults on the horse, reports the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

They were shocked to see footage of the teen sexually assaulting the mare when they checked the video in February.

Deputy Clay Stephens, who viewed the video, said the youth seemed very practiced, not hurried but not wasting any time. He seemed to be following a "very concise, deliberate, well-thought-out plan".

I'd hate to see what kind of gang bangs could occur if OSU repeats.

BJ Objects

2007-06-16T19:34:00.000-05:00

The lawyer for Genarlow Wilson, the high school football stud facing a 10 year jail sentence for oral sex with a minor, is named B.J.

Yes.

A laywer named BJ is defending a guy in jail for a BJ.

Awesome.

Great Moments In Broadcast History

2007-06-16T19:18:00.000-05:00

A few gems from the booth, this week in sports:

Game 4 Spurs/Cavs:

Mark Jackson: Eva invited me to their wedding today, did you guys get your invites?
Van Gundy: I don't believe you

OSU/Cal St Fullerton College World Series:

Mike Patrick to Oral Hershiser: Did they get that picture from your MySpace account?
Oral, completely unaware that it was a joke: No, I don't have one

Dear Yankee Fans

2007-06-15T08:42:00.000-05:00

Dear Yankee Fans,

Congratualtaions or your latest win streak. Though I hate you, I can't ignore the fact you will most likely still win the division, despite your absolutely terrible start of the season. With that being said, your team as we know it is history. You simply can't go out and get a bunch of expensive players and expect them to win championships. Remember when you guys won all those games in 1998? You think that was luck or something? That was arguably one of the greatest teams to ever play. I'd even put that team in the same class as the Oakland teams or Reds teams of the 70's, Johnny Bench and Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson and a plethera of hall of famers. This was not because you guys had an expensive payroll, but because you had ROLE PLAYERS(Brosius,O' Neill,Knoblauch,Chad Curtis, Joe Girardi). Granted your rotation was much much better with guys like Cone, El Duque in his prime...etc. But I mean, Scott Brosius was the MVP for christ's sake. The truth is, you cannot buy chemistry (coughs: Washington Redskins...sorry I had something in my throat..haha).The fact is, your championship drought will continue unless Steinbrenner invests in his TEAM rather than it's PLAYERS. Good luck Yanks fans you won't win another one until your philosophy and your constant attempts to ruin the game of baseball cease and desist.

Yours Truly,

Bryan "The tortured D-ray fan" Abznaz

Dear Asante

2007-06-15T08:37:00.000-05:00

Dear Asante,
You are officially a waste of talent and are not just letting me down, your letting your team,tons of patriot fans and UCF Alumni down. How did you not show up to Marquise Hill's funeral? What did he have to do with you "getting paid"? Once that happened, I lost all respect for you man. You had a good year last year and have gotten more and more acclimated to our defense with each passing season. Have one more good year like that and you will "Get Paid". However, If you think you need to be paid like you are the greatest CB in the leauge you are wrong. You couldn't even hold a candle to guys like Champ Bailey. Go ahead man, go test free agency waters, end up on that long list of pats player that thought the grass was greener; only to see there careers tumble,performance drop dramatically, and miss out on superbowls. Call up your boys Branch, Givens, Milloy, Law, Woody, Andruzzi, [insert Pats player here], I'm sure they would be able to advise you more clearly, since I am just a "homer", a loyal pats fan who knows nothing about football.Happy trails, Asante. Now please get off my f-ing team.

Sincery,
Bryan "Get Paid" Abznaz

Turning Point?

2007-06-14T22:21:00.000-05:00

If game 4 ends with the Cavs on top remember this play: Cavs up by one, their first lead since early in the first, Lebron misses a wide open look. The ball appears poised to fall into the hands of one of the 3 Spurs under the hoop, yet Anderson Varejo hustles in -- somehow avoiding an over-the-back -- and taps the ball back to Lebron. Soon the Cavs are up by 3.

Remember this play, the media surely won't.

Game 4 Awesomeness

2007-06-14T20:09:00.000-05:00

THE GAME JUST STARTED, after Lebron hit his first shot the on-air exchange was like so:

Main color-commentary guy: Lebron hits a mid-range jumper, something he's been doing all series long"
Van Gundy: Lebron's missed his last 17 shots outside the paint (something about why he made this one)

Um...that's not contradictory. Nope. Not at all.

Old man face

2007-06-12T21:31:00.001-05:00

Enough about sports, we should talk a bout a serious illness that strikes one in every ten adult males. It's called "Old man face" (not very creative name I know) and it is quitely among the top conditions in America. It's time to raise awarness of this socially debilitating disease, not for me or you, but for that little kid that goes to his second grade class with a full-grown goatee, for that poor fifth grader with the gray ear hair and skin discolarations. I have been blessed with having a young face but feel we should begin to help out those who aren't as fortunate.

Above you will see a picture of the Oden twins at last night's game. If you care enough, please make a donation today.

1-800-OLDMANFACE

THIS POST WAS SOMEHOW UNPOSTED TWO GAMES AGO: Wait, Are You Sure About That?

2007-06-10T21:51:00.000-05:00

During halftime of the Spurs/Cavs game the Heads discussed the Coach Brown's decision to bench LeBron with 2 fouls and leave him on the pine the entire first quarter. You got the impression that LeBron being out really hurt the Cavs in the first half.

LeBron in the first half: - 14
LeBron on the bench: - 7

I somehow don't see that as the culprit.

BY THE WAY, Jeff Van Gundy is awesome. I always thought that a guy who looked like he did would talk like a cartoonish dweeb. Nope. The guy makes jokes non-stop and most of them are gems. Plus, during a talk about Cavs lacking energy and all those buzz words that have nothing to do with the

The Race Continues

2007-06-10T12:20:00.000-05:00

The race to the bottom is heating up:

Kansas City .365
Texas .371
Cincinnati .381
Washington .419
Pittsburgh .419
Houston .426

Based on runs scored/runs against Washington has an expected win % of .381. Tampa Bay is still in the hunt with their expected win/loss is .390. Much of that is due to their erratic bullpen jacking up their RA in blowouts.

Fact-Checking The LeBron Hype

2007-06-09T10:35:00.001-05:00

When a player is deemed great by the media a certain ineffable aura appears around them. Not in my eyes, mind you, but in the eyes of sports talking-heads across the country.

Derrick Jeter is the probably the best example of this in modern sports.

EVERYTHING Jeter does is powered by some supernatural force and though they don't yet have the capacity to measure ESP, the talking-heads are all but certain he is regularly willing his team to victory. Which is weird, because, you know, sometimes they lose and I'd imagine Jeter really wants his team to win those games also.

Which brings us to LeBron.

ANY attempt to downplay his OVERALL playoff performance (because, yes, he put the numbers up twice in the Pistons series in two critical games. He also came close to AVERAGING a triple-double in that series which is phenomenal) But how much credit should the supposed heir to His Airness' throne get for that kind of thing?) will be met with response relating to his presence, his leadership, his sheer determination to win and you can't really combat that kind of argument.

Here's the thing: there aren't stats relating to presence, leadership or determination. There are just stats that happen to do a fairly decent job at reflecting a players contribution to his team. While stats do lack context, and in the case of LeBron being double and triple teamed it does affect the bottom stat line -- you can't account for context influence by just assuming that is was there. That LeBron was double-teamed and his teammates had open looks due to him drawing coverage.

No.

The only way to account for context is to watch every play and note exactly when, where and how each play occurred. For every player on every play. And wouldn't those stats be fun?

Anderson Varejao: 2 - 5 (OPEN LOOKS), 1 - 3 (MAN IN HIS FACE), 0 - 2 (BAD ENTRY PASS), 0 - 2 (MAN IN FRONT ROW YELLING AT HIM), 3 - 3 (SHOTS NEAR LADY WITH EXTREMELY VISIBLE CLEAVAGE)

It's just not feasible.

So called "presence" doesn't seem to exist anywhere outside of sports which would seem to undermine it's very existence. LeBron doesn't pull into a long drive-thru line at Arby's and the people inside just somehow start working faster.

And while poor leadership certainly can affect performance, be it a boss who makes negative comments or a coach who puts to much undue pressure on players, great leadership (outside of life and death situations where people are quite literally losing their heads) also only does so much -- and it's only serving to allow players to play at their peak level through helping win the mental battle.

As for the passionate "we aren't going lose this game" speech -- it's overrated. In all my years of playing sports and listening to these impassioned pleas for performance I never noticed a direct correlation to speeches and performance. Sometimes after the guy who over-compensated for his questionable sexuality yelled to us, "WE'RE NOT GOING TO LET THESE FAGGOTS BEAT US, ARE WE?" we did string together a great comeback rally to be the Lambda Pride in the ninth, but what about all the other times that speech had no effect whatsoever

So let's look at the only measure of contribution we have to find out just how great LeBron has been; the stats.

Remember, the point of this isn't to downplay what LeBron has done, which has been in mind what the best player on any team should do, but to derail the hype-train.

PLAYOFFS PPG LEADERS:

Kobe Bryant 32.8
Antawn Jamison 32.0
Carmelo Anthony 26.8
Amare Stoudemire 25.3
Tracy McGrady 25.3
Baron Davis 25.3
Ming Yao 25.1
LeBron James 25.1
Carlos Boozer 23.1
Dwyane Wade 23.1

LeBron has also played more minutes per game than any player in the playoffs.

ASSISTS PER GAME:

Steve Nash 13.3
Antonio Daniels 11.8
Jason Kidd 10.9
Deron Williams 8.6
LeBron James 8.0

Impressive that LeBron is the only player on this list among the top-10 scorers. He is responsible for roughly 40 pts of his teams offense. Nash and Williams being close to 40 also. When you factor in AST/To ratio LeBron drops to 13th with 2.78 a game.

Where LeBron should get the most credit is where Cleveland won the Conference Finals: defense. LeBron led the Conference Finals with 16 steals, helping hold Detroit to only 86 PPG. This is a -.5.47 differential from their playoff average and -10 from their regular season average.

Giving credit where credit is due? Nah. Let's just keep talking about the offensive greatness that is only slightly present in the stats. That makes sense.

Here's another crazy stat to look out for: LeBron plays far better on short rest, almost leading the playoffs in PPG after one day rest, but (though the amount of games is small for statistical comparison) worse after more days rest, whereas the Spurs big-three all increase their PPG on longer rest. Game 2 is after 4 days rest. Good luck, King.

Platitudes

2007-06-07T21:06:00.000-05:00

Time to add another sports-ism to the list of sports-isms that we hate. This list includes the oft-used "This team just isn't built for 3rd and long"...because we all know that the goal of every GM is to make a team that shines in those 3rd and a bunch situations.

During the Spurs/Cavs: topic being the Cavs only down 6 with LeBron still without a FG.

"The Cavs have to be happy with that score. They are only worried about getting those other guys started. LeBron is good enough that he can make shots when he wants to."

Remember this was about Lebron going 0 for 6, those 6 shots, we must assume given that statement, shots that he didn't really want to make.

Ultimately, at some point during these finals, the Cavs starters not dubbed "The Chosen One" will be blamed for the team's performance but how does that statement square with their stout D in the first quarter of game one and ending the first half only down by 5 while Lebron is without a FG?

New Blogger No More

2007-06-07T20:39:00.000-05:00

Billy Donavon has informed us that he made poor desicion and will no longer be blogging here.

What kind of grown-ass-man is named Billy anyway?

New Blogger

2007-06-07T20:38:00.001-05:00

We'd like to welcome the former Head Coach of the Orlando Magic, Billy Donavon, to the Sporting Naz lineup. We look forward to having you around, Billy.

NBA Finals

2007-06-06T12:25:00.000-05:00

Anyone have prediction on the NBA Finals?

I think Cleveland has a better shot than most people would think...

Am I blogging to myself?

You betcha.

D-Ray blowpen

2007-06-06T08:25:00.000-05:00

I don't get worked up about much....But the D-rays need to begin a scutinous process of self evaluation....

BUT HOW THE HELL DO YOU GIVE UP SIX RUNS IN THE NINTH INNING?

How are any of those bullpen pitchers still in the Majors?

How do you go into an offseason with leauges worst bullpen and do absolutely nothing about it?

How long will fans put up with this?

When are you going to spend some money on your ROSTER?

How could you think of drafting anyone but David Price in the Mlb Draft?

Is Shawn Camp the worst pitcher in the game?

Has Brian Stokes ever recorded an out in his entire pitching career?

GOD I HATE THIS TEAM!

AH!!!!!!!!

Officiating...

2007-05-25T10:57:00.000-05:00

I'm never one to complain about bad officiating..But what about that no call on the Richard Hamilton foul on Lebron? That was clearly a foul that could very well end up costing the Cavs the series. On that note, I was never a huge fan of Lebron as I always thought his comparisions to MJ were just downright unwarranted. In case you all haven't been paying attention, Lebron took the leauge's absolute worst team and turned them into a legitamite playoff contender. Hate him or not people should give respect when it's due. He's only 22 and already been in the leauge for four years. He is a proven leader and yes, a ballhog yet he doesn't have that Kobe Bryant mentality that has run the Lakers into the gorund.

Upcoming Things

2007-05-16T23:38:00.000-05:00

THE BUFFALO SABRES avoided the sweep but, really, is there a worse city to root for? Cleveland?

SPEAKING OF CLEVELAND...LeBron James' chalk clap move is just about the dumbest pre-game-crowd-pump-ritual ever.

MORE THINGS TO COME...STAY TUNED!

Quotable

2007-05-16T23:36:00.000-05:00

Shaq, on the Game 5 Suns/Spurs suspensions --

If you break the crime, you do the time.

Unrelated sports news...

2007-05-15T22:49:00.001-05:00

This just in...Flogging Molly at Jannus Landing show makes flogging molly greates band ever....that is all

Late Friday News and Notes

2007-05-11T23:13:00.000-05:00

Shibam!

I OFTEN WONDER how various game crews deal with those pesky fans in the background, fans that keep their heads in frame the entire time all while making faces or waving.

I assume that a camera grip waves them off or makes mean faces. Sometimes I imagine that during a commercial break or cut away that the crew threatens the fans, "If you put your head back in this shot we're going add a graphic of an arrow pointing to you saying "This dude bangs little boys.""

Tonight during the Warriors/Jazz game Mike Tirico taught me two of his methods.

The on-air call out. "Some stooge just spilled champagne on us"

The point blank. "Yes, we see you sir, now get out of our ears."

Awesome.

I don't really like Mike Tirico for anything than college sports. I think his laid back attitude, delivery and higher voice are great for the college environment, but sound rather amateurish and less solemn for professional color commentary.

I think he gets so many gigs due to his blackness (of which he is in short supply of).

Regardless, he has provided me with a few memorable moments last year during his 10 million different jobs.

1. MNF, circa week 2 or 3, with Tony Kornheiser still learning the ropes. TK was talking about his daughter's prom and said, "I'm not sure if can do this, give a plug, but Morton's Steakhouse..." and Tirico cut him off on air and scolded him under his breath -- right then and there -- "Stop that! What are you doing?"

2. Last year with Tiger ripping through his win streak Tirico was doing some PGA time and, while talking about VJ Singh's lack of media coverage, Tirico referred to Singh as "Dude," as in, "I mean. this dude..." Dude. During golf. He called somebody else dude later that telecast. It ruled.

BARON DAVIS' DUNK was the NBA play of the year.

DIRK WINS THE MVP...more like Man Vanquished (by) Pressure.

HOW TO WIN MORE GAMES; AN IDEA. Hire a Ninja to get a seat next to the tunnel, and after the game, when the players gives high fives, do a crazy pressure point snap to the star player's hand. I mean those are million dollar hands those guys just let regular people touch. Ninjas. I'm telling you.

I HOPE THE JAZZ LOSE, based solely on the Derrick Fisher story. I'm a sappy dude and I'm happy for the guy and his family and everything. Yeah for you D-Fish and Daughter-Fish. Hell, the movie Rudy, I cry every time. Remember the Titans, sobbing. Freaking Rudy! But as of this game, one day after Derrick Fisher mumbled Ophtamaliosis (or whatever-iosis) on national TV, it's now told on TNT that his on-air action alone heroicaly saved tens-of-thousands of children from eye cancer and cured world hunger and saved the polar bears and fixed global warming. And if the Jazz keep winning it will only get worse. He'll be fixing shit we didn't even know was a problem yet.

RACE TO THE BOTTOM UPDATE:
Washington %.286
Kansas City .306
Texas / Tampa Bay / Toronto .400

Go Nats. We Believe.

Intrusive Media, Redux.

2007-05-10T15:55:00.000-05:00

As Absnaz points out below: the media infatuation with tragedy and death is almost -- if the subject itself wasn't so serious -- comical.

Last night, mere seconds after the Jazz secured their overtime win against the Warriors, Pam Oliver corralled the game's "hero" Derrick Fisher (which is pushing it to begin with -- Fisher had several great defensive stops and one of the most crucial shots of the game -- all while saddled with emotion and grief, but HERO? I'd say that the game's hero was the Warriors' foul shooting down the stretch, going 1-4 with under 30 seconds left. But that's just me) and asked him about playing with a heavy heart. Fisher then breaks the news his daughters cancer diagnoses and that he's making it public only to raise awareness for other families. Oliver, not content to say "I'm so sorry to hear that our prayers are with and your family. Basketball is fairly meaningless at this time," then asks, "How do you go on this series and divide your loyalty between family and team?"

WHAT?!!!

And after she sucks all the emotion she can out of the interview, without saying anything particularly nice or comforting to Derrick, she kicks it back to the TNT studio, where -- despite only hearing the news seconds before -- talk about his daughters health and his family situation for five minutes straight.

It reminds me of one the most uncomfortable moments in my sports history. After the already emotional and heated Iowa v Iowa St. rivalry game last season, they snagged the game's "hero" who'd played the game just hours after learning of his father's death. Seconds after victory was secured for Iowa they interviewed him, weeping like a child, and the interviewer had the audacity to ask "what did it feel like to play this game knowing that your father just passed away hours before?"

Memo to media; the emotion we so love from sports is the victorious celebratory emotion, the suspense of the perilous balance between the joy of winning and the pain of losing. What it is not is personal emotion, nor is it extreme close ups on any tears that the camera men can find.

Scavengers.

You tell 'em, Don Henley.

intrusive media

2007-05-05T18:02:00.000-05:00

Upon hearing of the news of Caridnals relief pitcher Josh Hancock's death, I became a little upset with the way the media has handeling the situation. The guy obviously made a wrong decision and got behind the wheel of a car (registering a .17 or something like two times the legal limit), crashed into a parked tow truck and died on impaxt. With that being said, does anyone feel it's wrong to leak out things like he ws carrying pot on him at the time of his death? The news is tragic enough and now the family needs to hear how much weed and how drunk he was at the time of his unfortunate passing. I don't know his situation enough to judge but it seems a bit unfair for his family to hear stuff like this at a time when they certainely don't need it. As a sports fan and a human being for that matter, I think it's wrong to leak out personal things like that; as it clearly labels Hancock as someone who was an abuser and in some way tarnishes his life (Its not like he can defend himself!). I've always thought of our cultures fascination with death as pretty comical; how people called James Dean's death a "tradgedy" even though he was driving through Los Angles going 150 mph. How Tupac was "tradgically" murdered ? Tradgedy? Really? Well, before I get off course,it's not neccesary to leak information for people so harshly once they have passed on...Just a thought

Upset city

2007-05-04T02:18:00.000-05:00

It was nice to see the Warriors beat the Mavs tonight as the Warrior have long been the laughing stock of the NBA dating all the way back as far as that Chris Mullin era...As sports fans, we all secretly wish that these teams that have suffered for so long, rise above and get out of their losing ways...Good Job Chicago Bulls and good job Warriors, it's nice to see improved franchises..

NBA Refs Burn Crosses

2007-05-03T00:56:00.000-05:00

In white robes.

That's the implication of a new study finding that black players get called for fouls more often when refed by an all white crew in the NBA.

“Across all of these specifications,” they write, “we find that black players receive around 0.12-0.20 more fouls per 48 minutes played (an increase of 2 ½-4 ½ percent) when the number of white referees officiating a game increases from zero to three.”

Jokes and the obligatory questioning of why everything in sports must be tied to race (which, seriously, I'm at the point of just having only blacks play/coach/own/ref/cheerlead/waterboy/commentary to avoid this idiocy.) aside, I'd like to point out that the study doesn't seem to question if black players tend to play a bit more aggressively than white players. Which, I mean, duh.

The money quote..

Mr. Wolfers and Mr. Price claim that these changes are enough to affect game outcomes. Their results suggested that for each additional black starter a team had, relative to its opponent, a team’s chance of winning would decline from a theoretical 50 percent to 49 percent and so on, a concept mirrored by the game evidence: the team with the greater share of playing time by black players during those 13 years won 48.6 percent of games — a difference of about two victories in an 82-game season.

“Basically, it suggests that if you spray-painted one of your starters white, you’d win a few more games,” Mr. Wolfers said.

Baseball Power Rankings

2007-05-01T14:30:00.000-05:00

The latest power rankings decided by writers at ESPN.com were released yesterday. The only team I want to point out on that list is the New York Yankees. They are ranked 12th on the list and I'm not sure how they could be that high. They've only won 9 games this season so far and their winning percentage, along with their team ERA is 4th worst in the league. They are ahead of the Nationals, the Royals and the Rockies in winning percentage and the Rockies actually have more wins on the year. Their pitching staff couldn't beat a high school team right now. The Rays, who are 27th on the list, are 3-1 vs the Yankees this year. Keep up the accurate, unbiased sports rankings ESPN.

Patriots Draft

2007-04-29T19:49:00.000-05:00

I was thoroughly impressed with the Draft Day action of my team. Just when you think your managment is acting cheap and refusing to pay playerE, they shell out the money for some big time players like Randy Moss. Also, I think Merriweather will be a star in this league regardless of coming from thug university. We shouldn't take much against him, simply because he comes from a team with historically bad sportsmanship and thug mentality. (The U, "You don't come into da OB son!", FIU Brawl) I do think Randy Moss is still an elite reciever in this league and not as big of a headache as the media makes him out to be. So the guy doesn't wanna to play for a joke of a football team like the oakland Raiders, frankly, I can't see anyone wanting to play for the Raiders right now! Lets not forget that Andrew Walter guy might very well be the worst starting Qb in awhile and if a player with Moss's ability is catching one ball for 8 yds on an every week basis, it would seem a little disheartning. However, theres no excuse for it and your payed to be a part of a team and should likewise, be grateful regardless of the situation. I assure everyone, if Randy Moss is any sort of trouble in Foxbourough, he will be run out of town faster than you can say "Straight Cash Homie". For all you non fans, Behlichick refuses to deal with egos;, cutting staples like Ty Law,Lawyer Milloy,Deion Branch and soon to be Asante Samuel simply because there head wasn't in to winning championships but rather on putting some slick 22s on their pimped out rides. Though I am shocked at the move for Moss, I can't question the team that will probably, in all likelihood, win next year's superbowl. MWWAHAHA

GO PATS...

Shit fI just realized football season is so far away!

NEW CONCEPT MINEART!!!

2007-04-27T04:51:00.000-05:00

You have a link on our page to FIRE JOE MORGAN.COM or whatever the actual blog/site it is....and it gets a lot of hits mainly because of its name...all I'm wondering is if there is a way to change out site's name or address to something a little more firey just to get hits....then more random readership.....def a good idea

SHOW ME NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-04-27T03:26:00.000-05:00

Roughly speaking, the past 10-plus years (maybe a little more) has been the "show-me-me" era. Big-time player/coach signings...the expectancy for dominence NOW is higher than ever.............HEY!! NFL DRAFT TIME!!!...JaMarcus Russell...Brady Quinn...Calvin Johnson........better be franchise savers!.....In this day and age if you don't win now, you're fucked, no matter the situation, no matter the scenario...and if you happen to "luck into" a big stage, you could be fucked even more (i.e. Rex Grossman). Not to get off on a tangent, but Rex is the next Brett Favre. I don't know what Favre's numbers were in comparison to Grossman's at this stage in his career, but in my mind, from observation, they are virtually identical -- a gun-slinger that wants no more than the win and will do anything for it, but at times makes some illogical decisions. The illogical decisions are what Favre grew out of and also learned how to morph into great decisions--but that's what makes a great quarterback. Does Grossman have it? We'll see....

SHOW ME NOW!!!!!!!!!

Honestly, the best examples of the "show-me-now" era are within the realm of coaching...................But this conversation is going to have to be extended to my next post....because I'm tired and it's late ;)

People are crazy

2007-04-25T06:34:00.000-05:00

Since nobody is posting anything and in the lack of sports news, people have gone absolutely crazy.

Injury Shminjury...

2007-04-21T23:49:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or does it appear like some of these "injuries" that athletes get seem to come at very convenient times? Like when Dante Culpepper played an entire game and came off the field walking fine and appearing completely healthy and then after a few struggling games, is mysteriously on the injured reserve for the rest of the year? If I remember correctly, the guy was downright awful his last six or so games in Minnesota and showed no improvement the next year in Miami.....And what about Soriano? He is having a terrible start in Chicago and your telling me Soriano, who is almost always healthy, just happened to get injured while stinking it up in chi-town? Maybe it's just me over looking into things, like I usually do, but I am beginning to suspect that coaches encourage struggling stars to exaggerate routine injuries and illnesses so they can either a.) allow time off for the star to collect their thoughts or b.) to simply avoid any bad press from the local media for benching a star caliber player. Just a thought..

Reading Comprehension

2007-04-21T13:26:00.000-05:00

I came across a headline that read "Ditka Helps Paralyzed Teen" but I read it this way -- "Ditka Helps Paralyze Teen" which is not only a better story, but far more logical given the subject.

D-Ray Disapointment

2007-04-18T14:32:00.000-05:00

Well, its another year in D-rayville and it seems not a whole lot has changed. Yes, the young lineup shows dramatic progress and our highly touted young prospects (Delmon Young,Iwamura..etc) are finally beginning to live up to their hype. With that being said, the leagues by far worst bullpen is just the same as last year, absolutely atrocious. For decency purposes, I'm not going to pick on the rotation even though its just as bad, (Casey Fossum a starter! I mean come on!). Anyways, somehow management must have thought it would magically get better over the offseason purely through faith. I cannot believe how bad the pitching is. Like, the other day, I turned off the Orioles game in the sixth inning because it was 7-1, only to find the next morning that the Orioles came back to win the game 9-7! I'm sorry man but Scott Kazmir can't pitch every inning of every game, eventually your gonna have to shell out money. Yea, that's right money, the blatant reason the Yankees and Red Sox finish 1-2 in the division every single year. It must be hard to ignore the fact that A-rod and Jeter make more in a year than the D-rays spend on their entire organization. Can somebody tell me why do I care about a team that lost 100 games last year?

Thanks for the memories Bledsoe...

2007-04-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

Though "old barrel legs" Drew was probably one of the most immobile quarterbacks to ever play the game, I can't help but respect the guy who year in and year out did his job regardless of the situation. Everywhere he went he was unappreciated by the fans ; mainly for his sometimes irrational throwing decisions. and how he didn't fear the long ball, even when throwing into a crowded secondary. In all seriousness, here is a guy who has had his job taken from a younger person each time (Brady,Losman, Romo) yet still went out every day and did what was expected of him. I can remember that hit that Mo Lewis delivered to Bledsoe and the nine year era that it ended. However, people forget after that hit, (that sheered a blood vessel causing some very dangerous internal bleeding that could have killed him) Bledsoe apparently wanted to go back into the game and had to be told to come off the field by the coaching staff. Simply put, the man enjoyed playing football and in my opinion, had a decent 14 year career. He really wasn't the most consistent of quarterback, but he had some great years for the Patriots and ultimately, he was a big reason why I began watching football. Thanks Drew for the memories and introducing me to a thing called football.

Imass

2007-04-10T12:35:00.000-05:00

We're getting to the Don Imus flap a little late (like you were waiting around for it?) but -- like the chocolate in Rosie's cupboard -- we were bound to get there sometime.

They were truly despicable comments to direct at 18 year old female college
students:

IMUS: That's some rough girls from Rutgers.
Man, they got tattoos and --

McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos.

IMUS: That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man,
that's some -- woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute,
you know, so, like -- kinda like -- I don't know.

McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.

...ROSENBERG: It was a tough watch. The more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like the Toronto Raptors.

It raises two points:

Women aren't held to an equal standard in society. Women are perceived as vulnerable, even weak, so the fact that he leveled his comments at women raises the level of outrage into an almost protector type response. I'm mean no one is pissed that he said the Toronto Raptors look like a bunch of college girls, right?

Though "straight-hair is good" racism is long documented and palatable, I just can't label these comments racist and the hurry to yet again turn an issue into "race-based" says more, to me, about the lynch-mob (how's that for a ill-conceived but apt description?) than the lynched.

I'm mean, nappy hoes? Where did he even come up with that?

Why USF will win the Big East next year

2007-04-09T20:13:00.000-05:00

Watch and learn kids...Watch and learn

He Will?

2007-04-07T00:38:00.000-05:00

I realize that Barry Bonds -- in all statistical likelihood (despite him only hitting 25 dingers last year) -- will break Hank Aaron's all-time HR record, but given that injuries do in fact happen, and sometimes result in missing multiple seasons (Griffey) and, though less common for position players, careers (Puckett) -- why is it that sportscasters state that Bond will definitively break the record?

Am I missing something? Time travel? Anything at all that lets them know this is a done deal before it's actually a done deal?

Beause if so I've got like ten thousand things I need to know about the Redskins' roster next year.

IN OTHER NEWS Hammering-Hank seems like one hell of a guy and I wish he was in my family. Maybe a son, or something.

The Joke's Still on Dolph

2007-04-07T00:32:00.000-05:00

Between tabliod-esque teasers and microsecond spliced, seizure inducing highlight reels -- Sportscenter can still make a good joke or two.

On today's snow-delayed game in Cleveland:
"So Global Warming -- like everything else cool and hip in the world -- has not yet reached Cleveland"

Wings on Pigs

2007-04-06T22:13:00.000-05:00

The D-Ray's have moved into first place in the AL East. Indeed, the Four Horseman are not far behind.

IN OTHER NEWS the Nats are a game behind the 'Stros in the Race to the Bottom

Good-bye Wizards

2007-04-06T18:18:00.000-05:00

The Wizards’ season, which looked promising for most the season, was officially ruined Wednesday night when Gilbert Arenas was injured in a loss to the basement Bobcats.

Arenas entered late in the first quarter and was injured less than two minutes later, when Charlotte's Gerald Wallace inadvertently crashed into Arenas after an off-balance reverse layup. Arenas' knee bent the wrong way, much like that of a quarterback who has been hit low by a rushing lineman…Arenas was diagnosed with a lateral meniscus tear and had arthroscopic surgery on Thursday.

The Wizards have lost both of their All-Stars to injuries in less than a week. Caron Butler broke a bone in his hand in Sunday's loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and is out for six weeks. Gilbert is the center piece of the team and loosing Butler is almost as bad. The team is 2-9 this season in games Butler has missed.

With there being no chance of the Wizards advancing to the second round of the playoffs, I will be skipping all of the Eastern Conference playoff games.

In similar news, Page 2 felt it was time to crown an Official Team of Pain and Suffering. Using some random logic and math, they came up with a list of 46 teams from the 4 pro sports and guess who made the list…the Wizards. They were ranked 35th, 5 spots behind the Capitals. It could be worse, every Cleveland based team made the list, sorry Dolph.

Taylor-Moorman revisted

2007-04-03T21:35:00.000-05:00

nice combo of Tecmo super bowl and the Sean Taylor hit

Skip Skip

2007-04-03T12:22:00.000-05:00

Skip Bayless on the possibility of the FL juniors returning next year, today on Cold Pizza --
"I think they should come back just to prove last night wasn't a fluke."

.....

.....

FLUKE?!!! Are you serious?

Capone's Tears

2007-04-03T04:03:00.000-05:00

There is a lot of bad writing on this here site. Mostly penned by myself. A lot. But I done finished enough school to know that this here sentence is atrocious -- not in the grammatical sense, but the all important complete and utter shit sense.

Pat Forde, via ESPN.com:
"When it was over and the first net had been snipped, there arrived a scene sweet enough to choke up a mobster."

Oden...

2007-04-02T22:10:00.000-05:00

However, this game turns out...One thing is for sure Greg Oden is a force to be reckoned with. Whats up with the case of OMFS? (Old Man face Syndrome)

The Race (to the Bottom) Begins

2007-04-02T18:08:00.000-05:00

Washington Nationals: 0-1
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: 0-1

A strong showing by both teams out of the gate.

The Nationals clearly have the edge by not even giving the bullpen the chance to blow the game. Good job.

Serious Questions. Answers? Not so much.

2007-04-02T18:04:00.000-05:00

Asking a question on the internet is a bad idea (from the Redskins' messageboard.)

InsaneBoost: I remember them talking about possibly building a new Redskins stadium, in the place of RFK I believe. Anywho, the other night I walked in at the end of sports and I heard them say something about a new Redskins stadium, is there any new info out on it?

SPJunkies: It's going to open in the 2010-2011 season.

202Chaz: Yeah and its going to be made of mico-electro transparant glass and become invisible. So if you dont see it in 2010-2011 that will be why.

ryansrangers: i heard the all seats were going to recline and be made of leather

shyster411: I heard there is going to be a winning team playing there.......

God Hates Washington

2007-04-01T21:47:00.000-05:00

I think we all know who caused this, ; George Bush -- the source of every problem ever, including, but not limited too, the Redskins' performance in Super Bowl XVIII, Heath Shuler and Southeast DC.

Two Days, Two Games

2007-04-01T16:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we watched the "best" four college teams play, today I sit down to watch two great NBA games; Heat v Pistons, Mavs v Suns.

Using the box score from the UCLA/UF & Heat/Pistons game I hope to illustrate something: college basketball may be entertaining but it is not good.

A common complaint about the pro game is the over reliance on the post game and the fouls stemming from this, ironic considering the exhalation of the Oden/Hibbert match up.

When comparing these games, remember the UCLA/UF games was high scoring and low in turnovers for a college match, while the Heat/Pistons games was low scoring for an NBA contest.

UCLA/UF: 1 foul every 55.8 seconds
Pistons/Heat (if Shaq is involved it's gotta be foul heavy): 1 foul every 1:03.

Both games featured fouling near the final buzzer.

UCLA/FL: 1 point every 17 seconds
Heat/Pistons: 1 point every 15.2 seconds

Turnovers:
UCLA/FL: 1 every 2:11
Heat/Pistons: 1 every 2:17

Field Goal %
UCLA/FL: 45%
Pistons/Heat: 46%

3-point %:
UCLA/FL: 30%
Pistons/Heat: 35%

So based on these two games, colleges best vs a regular season NBA game we find that college has more fouls, less scoring, more turnovers, more missed shots
and, to top it all off, less talented athletes.

Fun, yes. Good, no.

Halftime. Shabam.

2007-03-31T17:53:00.000-05:00

This game is a case study in why, in most cases, college basketball is not as good as pro, despite the chorus of delusional souls constantly telling you otherwise.

OSU's man-2-man game plan threw salty wood chips all over G-Towns fine tuned Princeton offense, and, it being college ball, Georgetown was unable to adjust.

Georgetown has to praise Great Oden's ghost that the same nervousness that seemed to afflict their passes with a major case of shitty did the same to OSU shooting game until about 4 minutes left.

OSU finished +6 with Oden out, which could be the difference in the game, and for all the hype of the Hibbert/Oden match up, well Oden played 2 of 20 minutes. Proof positive: hype sucks.

P.S: Beer is still good.

P.P.S: Given the UF veterans and UCLA's determination to avenge last year's lost, combined with their stellar their D the second game should be far better. College basketball is still sloppier than the fat chick, drunk on St. Ides, at frat party.

LiveBlogging to an Audience of None

2007-03-31T17:25:00.000-05:00

Georgetown has 2 points in the 8 minutes Oden has been out. Not good. Final Four pressure on 18 year olds? Nah, couldn't be that. Not at all.

P.S: Beer is good.

Poised For a Comeback?

2007-03-31T14:33:00.000-05:00

Step 1: Joe Theisman gets the boot at MNF
Step 2: American Gladiators, once hosted by Joey T, gets marathon play on ESPN Classic
Step 3: American Gladiators 2000, hosted by Joe Theisman?

Dear God,
I haven't asked you for much and considering how frequently you drop the ball on my Redskin prayers, I implore you to make this happen.

Trent Green?

2007-03-30T01:59:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry but why all the interest in Trent Green? The man is almost 38 years old and is simply a product of a Kansas City offense that passes the ball ALOT! Dolphins and Browns beware of Trent Green; he may be good for a year or two but think about the future first!

Top-10 Consistent Franchises

2007-03-27T15:30:00.000-05:00

Over at Pro-Football-Reference Doug has put together a list of the most consistent NFL franchises since 1978.

The site contains some math jargon (translation: cover your room in plastic before visiting the site, whereupon your brain will spew from your ears, sending it's college-altered grey matter everywhere like the frag from an IED) but here are the top-10 teams reproduced without any permission whatsoever. Visit the site for the complete list.

The columns are: 1) Average wins and 2) the average standard deviation from that number year to year.

crd 5.91 1.69
htx 4.80 1.72
mia 9.53 2.12
sea 8.02 2.14
min 8.48 2.19
den 9.65 2.41
pit 9.44 2.42
kan 8.37 2.46
det 6.41 2.53
phi 8.80 2.60

Congrats to the Cardinals, winners of...something. Although with an average of 6 wins a season that's consistency akin to fondling a cookie dough textured tit at the nursing home.

Say What?

2007-03-27T15:25:00.000-05:00

During the Twins / Yanks spring training game today, the annoucers gave a little AL East preview --
"The Yanks -- can they remain healthy and overcoming A-Rod distractions?
The Red Sox -- can(I missed this part...not important)?
The O's, can they find quality pitching after their big 3 starters?
The D-Rays are going to be terrible."

Quotable

2007-03-27T15:22:00.000-05:00

Comedian Eddie Griffin on crashing a rare Ferrari Enzo while practicing for an upcoming charity race --

"Undercover Brother's good at karate and all the rest of that, but the brother can't drive."

I Wish Females Were As Loyal (After Poor Performance)

2007-03-26T16:31:00.000-05:00

The Redskins led the league in attendence for the 7th consecutive year.

Washington drew 708,952, followed by the New York Giants (628,925), Kansas City (624,171) and the New York Jets (618,563).

Washington also led the league in total attendance, home and away, for its 16 games with 1,232,200

IN OTHER NEWS Dan Snyder has traded the Redskins next 14 first round picks to Buzz Aldrin in an attempt to purchase the moon.

For Once He's Speechless?

2007-03-26T12:01:00.000-05:00

The Hoyas are back...but can't we get some quotes from famed alum and Rhodes Scholar Allen Iverson?

Still on the Road....

2007-03-22T11:42:00.000-05:00

Dear Tony LaRussa,
It's a good thing you are a laywer, because DUI's are expensive. I generally find that intersections are good places for driving, but less good for sleeping.
Sincerely,
Eric

Texans make a good move for once? whaat?!?!?

2007-03-22T01:21:00.000-05:00

The Houston Texans today traded for Atlanta backup Qb Matt Shaub; ending David Carr's reign but giving away a few early draft picks in exchange for a solid QB. Now alot of people who have watched Shaub play consider the guy one of the best backups in the game, and alot of people called him a "flash in the pan" that only performs well in limited action. This year we will all see how good of a Qb Shaub really is and I believe, he will put that talk to rest. I always hated that "project" mentality approach that teams take.. like our players just need to develop and they need to be nurtured into the big leagues (entire Devil Rays squad)...When you go to the pros you either have the tools or you dont. Yes, there is a learning curve but come one seriously

" David Carr will be good in six or so years...",

or the
"He just gets sacked all the time its not his fault the O-line sucks!"

You know what? The fact remains David Carr had his six year opportunity and simply couldn't take that team absolutely anywhere. Is David Carr a good Quarterback? Absolutely, but the Texans needed a change of pace and I absolutely love this pickup. Maybe, in six years time and in respect to the " Project Approach" , Eric will show this post to his buddy Mario Williams, who he insanely still stands by with last years #1 pick .Personally, I would probably take a look at all the amazing rookies last year Addai, Jones Drew,Hester,VY, Colston, Mark Anderson,AJ Hawk,Maroney....you know what, forget it the list is too long.

What a homer..

2007-03-19T12:39:00.000-05:00

Joe Theismann when asked about who he thought where some suprise teams for next season....

Theismann: There are a couple that immediately jump to mind. The Redskins are one because they had a great deal of momentum when the season ended, because they seemed to have found their quarterback of the future in Jason Campbell...

Geez Joe. I didn't expect that one coming...

Trouble in PasierbLand?

2007-03-17T03:19:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or do the Bears look like they could possibly be in trouble for next year?

Tank- getting locked up..Who would have though a guy with the name Tank Johnson would be arrested on weapon charges?

Rex- self-explanatory

Thomas Jones- A lotta people do not realize the caliber of a running back that Thomas Jones is. The loss of TJ is leaving a huge weight on Benson's shoulder. It'll be intereting to see if they draft an RB.

Lance Briggs- Will he really sit out an entire year? Coming from someone who watched Deion Branch demand money as if he was the best in the biz, I'd say that Briggsy will seriously sit out the year if it came down to it. He would not only be making a huge mistake on his career but he would leave a gaping hole in that run defense.

Mentally- More recently, alot of teams collapse the years after their first superbowl appearance in awhile, (Raiders, Giants, Bucs..etc) I'm worried that this could happend to a yound team like the bears as well

For all purposes, I hope that the Bears overcome these offseason struggles with a solid draft and a clear mind on the upcoming season. It will be interesting to see what transpires with that team the next year not only cause I'm a fan but also because it could very possibly, provoke many Knee Jerk reactions by Bear Afficianado Jon Pasierb.....

March not so madness?

2007-03-17T03:05:00.000-05:00

How about the first round of games? A total of 5 upsets in the first round and three of them were the #9 seed over the # 8 seeds. I don't want to knock the greatest sporting event in all of sports, (you know its true) but where are the big upsets? the Bucknells and Hampton teams of this world? Maybe march madness has been spoiled the past few years..Maybe I just wanna see another George Mason... Woo Winthrop beat Notre Dame, you know what USF beat Notre Dame and frankly, I could legitametly have a chance to start for USF (they're very bad).Also, is Virginia Commonwealth is that big of an upset? I watched Duke play a few games this year and they looked terrible, sloppy offensively and very beatable and I was not that suprised to see them lose. In the second half of almost every games the underdogs for the most part, blown out! I hope the second round brings some upsets because that first round of games was lacking any storyline or excitement. Man Im drunk......zzzzzzzzzz

ON A SIDE NOTE: Eric this blog needs you....COME BACK

The D.C Monster...

2007-03-14T15:53:00.000-05:00

Redskins this. Capitals that. Nationals this. Wizards that. Blah Blah blah....Enough of all this D.C area talk on this blog. Let's talk about the greatest Washington Athelete the area had ever seen.

Is it Sean Taylor? Nope

Slingin' Sammy? Nah

Art Monk? Nah man...it's Gheorge Muresan! Who could forget the 7' 7 beast of a center who could dunk with the greatest of ease, block shots at will and command the utmost attention from his opponents. In all seriousness, Muresan is simply a funny man; whether its displaying his dance moves or advertising his latest fragance, we should all show more respect to the man that is Gheorge Muresan....

This one is for dee kids

Trouble In Franchisedise

2007-03-13T14:56:00.000-05:00

Lance Briggs is done with the Bears:

"I am now prepared to sit out the year if the Bears don't trade me or release me," Briggs told FoxSports.com on Monday night. "I've played my last snap for them. I'll never play another down for Chicago again."

He claims he'd motivated, in large part, by a desire to be 'the man':

I'm a competitor and I want the same thing [Brian Urlacher] has. I've learned a lot from Brian as a player and a leader and I eventually want to be 'the man' somewhere. I want to be like him and have everything put on me too. Obviously I'll never be able to do that there.

Though resident Bears fan Jon has not posted here at the Naz, he found the time to comment on this article at ESPN.com.

Blah blah, trade him. Hopefully he gets cancer so that any money he makes go to doctors' bills. He shouldnt be allowed to enjoy $7 mill, the way he's been acting.

NFL USO

2007-03-13T12:46:00.000-05:00

...
I've been following the daily dispatches from the NFL USO trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. The players on trip are Alge Crumpler, Will Shields, Shelton Quarles and Ben Watson.

The dispatches won't be filed in the annals of great war-front prose, but they're important, nonetheless, because they humanize the both the war and the NFL players. All too often we speak of both as a homogeneous mass, only acknowledging the individual when they reach the opposite ends the achievement spectrum; that being greatness or failure. It's necessary to understand that the Army is comprised of individuals, individuals trying to do good, and individuals who are appreciative of the visit from these NFL players. Though reciprocity need not be pointed out (as in: the pleasure is all mine) you get the sense that the players are taking a lot from their trip, both in the impact that they have and understanding the sacrifices that the solders make daily.

If you have 10 minutes take the time to read all 6 dispatches.

Murder and Punting

2007-03-13T11:46:00.000-05:00

And he planned on getting away with it how exactly?

Former Northern Colorado backup is accused of stabbing starter: Mitch Cozad, a former Northern Colorado backup punter accused of stabbing starter Rafael Mendoza, pleaded not guilty Monday in Greeley, Colo., to charges of attempted murder and assault.

Cozad is accused of leaving a 3- to 5-inch deep gash in Mendoza's kicking leg during a Sept. 11 ambush in Evans, Colo. Police have said they believe Cozad stabbed Mendoza in an attempt to get the starting job.

The Crime Wave Continues

2007-03-12T18:16:00.000-05:00

Before you even read this, think; if a stolen gun is a bad thing to have, what does that make a gun stolen from the ATF?

TAMPA, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Charles Sharon was charged with stealing a handgun that police found under the seat of his sport utility vehicle during a drug-related search.

Sharon and a companion were arrested Saturday night after a Tampa police officer noticed the odor of marijuana coming from his 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe parked in the Ybor City entertainment district, a police report said.

A search of the vehicle turned up a Glock Model 27 handgun under the driver's seat. Tampa police reported that the gun was stolen last year from a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent in Putnam County, but an ATF spokesman said Monday that the weapon belonged to an agent of the state Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.

Amazingly, Charles Sharon drops in on ESPN.com to comment on this article:

Hi. My name is Charles Sharon. Last year I was a rookie. I made the league minimum salary of $260,000. I decided that it would be better if I stole a gun instead of using some of my earnings to buy and register it. I AM A MORON!

Patriots 2.0

2007-03-12T15:06:00.000-05:00

The Patriots, have reloaded offensively and defensively this off season. Whether the additions of Wes Welker,Donte Stallworth and now touchdown dance extraordinare Kelley Washington. (SWEET DANCE!)The Pats appear to have upgraded their team, seriously. I think we definitely overpaid for Stallworth and Washington, but both of their contracts are incentive laden contracts and could essentially be seen as one year contracts for the both of them if they don't produce. Nevertheless, I am very excited to see what the patriots do in the Draft. One could argue we could be heading into the season a favorite to once again hoist the lombardi trophy over our collective heads...

First Openly Gay NBA Player Gayly Signs First Openly Gay Endorsment Contract For Being Openly Gay.

2007-03-12T12:28:00.000-05:00

Good old John Amaechi, wasting perfectly good news space with these amazing developments:

Former NBA player John Amaechi became the first openly gay male athlete to sign an endorsement deal with a mainstream company.

SO WHAT?!!! This is news now? And that "mainstream company" is....HeadBlade?

"John Amaechi is the newest face of the brand because he embodies many of the qualities representative of a HeadBlader," HeadBlade chief executive Todd Greene said. "He is a man comfortable in his own skin and he's not afraid to go against the grain."

Get it? Grain, like shaving against the grain, like a double-entendre. Clever.

And he sports a shaved noggin.

After that the comparison sorta falls apart, unless "HeadBladers" are generally attracted to penis.

If You See Pacman Jones; Run Away.

2007-03-11T17:52:00.000-05:00

Trouble follows Pacman like the stale stench of sex follows Paris Hilton.

A man was arrested and charged with aggravated assault after police said he threatened troubled Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones with a knife at a Franklin, Tenn., bowling alley.

No one was hurt during the Friday night incident.

"Mr. Jones was here just trying to be a normal customer, trying to bowl" with several others, Franklin police detective Stephanie Cisco said, according to The Tennessean newspaper.

News From Outside

2007-03-11T14:31:00.000-05:00

The Outdoors section of ESPN.com usually provides some interesting tidbits. Today's headlines:

Navy seeks to deploy dolphins to protect
Seattle-area base from terrorist swimmers

Hawkins deputies look for heavy woman who attacked Bulls Gap restaurant employee with catfish

Flat-out mean and ugly: 10 scariest fish on planet

Tom Brady: Modern Day Johnny Appleseed

2007-03-09T22:05:00.000-05:00

...

Alternate title: Tom Brady: Most Vigorous Propagator

Word on the Brazilian street is that father-to-be Tom Brady has off and planted a new seed in his model girlfriend's field. You know, the girlfriend who happens to look hot.

Nice Guys Finish Last

2007-03-07T22:43:00.000-05:00

Congrats to the good guy, Sean Taylor, who has been named one of S.I.'s 10 most controversial football players.

Taylor has had legal problems since entering the NFL. He faced felony assault charges from a 2005 incident in Miami, but eventually reached an agreement with prosecutors that resulted in just community service. Taylor is also controversial for his hard hits on the field. At this year's Pro Bowl, the Redskins safety laid a devastating hit on Bills punter Brian Moorman.

Don't forget that time he spit on wife-beating Michael Pittman in a playoff game.

Also, don't forget a DUI that was throw out when his lawyer claimed that Sean failed the alphabet test because he hadn't had to recite it in so long, so he just forgot a few letters.

And are hard hits on the field controversial? Or are they FOOTBALL?

In fairness to Sean, they're talking about controversy, which is generally not the event but the speculation and hoopla around it. Beating and your wife isn't controversial, just despicable. Ditto for dewies, guns and the entire Bengals team. Although the list is kind of inconsistent, because Chris Henry and Pacman Jones make it which is actual trouble, but I guess those guys are the public faces of trouble and thusly controversial. I don't think T.O. has ever been arrested so putting him above guys who have put lives at risk seems kinda iffy.

The list:
1. T.O.
2. Randy "Straight Cash Homey" Moss
3. Pacman Jones
4. Chris Henry
5. Jeremy Shockey
6. Tank Williams
7. Michael Vick
8. Sean Merriman
9. Sean Taylor
10. Ricky Williams

My list (of recent history) would go:
1. Ray Caruth: killed his pregnant girlfriend
2. Leonard Little: killed a women while driving drunk
3. Ray Lewis: killed a man for no reason
4. Pacman Jones: complicit in shooting that resulted in man being paralyzed
5. Maurice Clarret: Drank a bunch and went on a berserk assassination mission
6. Randy McMichael: pushed his girlfriend out of a moving car
7. Maurice Jones-Drew & Ricky Manning Jr.: beat a guy at Denny's unconscious because he looked like a nerd.
8. Albert Haynsworth: cleated a man's face DURING A GAME
9. a) Koren Robinson: 8,000 DUIs, 90 days in jail.
...b) Chris Henry: 5,000 DUIs
10. Michael Irvin: blow and hoes.

Quotable: Double Homicide Edition

2007-03-07T15:45:00.000-05:00

Murderer O.J Simpson, on the possibility he may be the father of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter. The sadism of The Juice is unparalleled .

"I hope they don't do a DNA test on Anna Nicole's baby. If they find out Dannielynn is mine, I don't want Fred Goldman trying to seize her money - or the baby herself."

Wlibon & LeBron, Redux

2007-03-07T12:37:00.000-05:00

...

Let me reiterate my point from the last post.

I think LeBron James has a more stable household for which to rear children than Matt Leinart and Tom Brady; Leinart is a known hard partier and promiscuous young buck and Brady (who's no longer with his baby's momma) gets around like he was a 2-Pac song. LeBron has the same baby's momma for both kids, is still with her and is, by all accounts, an excellent father.

That said, my point was this: out of wedlock children have increased steadily since the '30s and have skyrocketed since the 90's. All ethnic groups are effected by this issue but in the black community this is a far greater problem (44% greater) than white community, ergo, black role models may have more of a responsibility than white role models to speak out and be positive influences to young black men. More examples of this would be:

Gay men having a greater responsibility to speak of regular AIDs testing and the need for safe sex(70% of all HIV/AIDS cases are from men who have sex with men)

White communities speaking out on skin cancer prevention (3 of 5 skins cancer cases are caucasian)

Women speaking about the need for regular mammograms

Excreta, and so forth.

It's not that a black baby out of wedlock is any different than a white baby out of wedlock -- they're the same -- but given the percentages, prevention efforts may be better geared toward blacks, and LeBron James and other black role models are very much a part of those efforts.

,

This Weekend Dolph and I Saw Boobies. Yessir.

2007-03-06T23:56:00.000-05:00

OTHER BITS OF RANDOM NEWS...

Lance Briggs is saying to the Bears; 're$cind the franchi$e tag or trade me, biatch.' We'll see that happens with that situation.

It was pointed out to me (by a radio host, so he wasn't exactly telling me) that, during the wonderful utopia known as the NFL regular season, your team only plays about 48 hours total. 3 hours average game, 16 games = 48. And when you look at it like that...it's really depressing.

I caught One Nut John Kruk on Baseball Tonight discussing the probability of Bonds breaking the record this year. He said it was a lock because "even in a bad year [Barry Bonds] will hit 30 HRs" which is true if you pretend Bonds hit 4 more dingers than his 26 last season. Right on, Kruky!

How about this quote from Cedric Maxwell, the color commentator for the Celtics:

The referee who made this call was Violet Palmer, who happens to be a woman. Cedric Maxwell, the analyst / sidekick on the Celtics broadcast team, proclaimed "Get back in the kitchen!" when she made the call. Max's partner, Sean Grande, tried to throw him a lifeline by pointing out that they had both been previously impressed by Palmer's officiating, but Max continued "Get back in the kitchen and fix me some bacon and eggs!"

Good one. Real witty.

Michael Wilbon's WaPo Chat House today provided some interesting nuggets:

Rockville, Md.: Mike -- aren't NFL signings pretty much of a joke? There are big press conferences announcing mega contracts, then a good chunk of the players are eventually released or asked to restructure. An excellent example is our own Stephen Davis, who signed a $90 million contract with the 'Skins and then was gone in no time.

Michael Wilbon: Thank you. Of course, they're a joke. They're announced for the benefit of the team, which wants to impress the local populace with phony numbers, and for agents who want to impress potential clients with phony numbers. It's a dog-and-pony show that the media is complicit in carrying out and the whole thing is disgusting and phony and a complete fraud. But the NFL can do anything it wants and people will swallow the thing whole.

True dat. Well said.

Washington, D.C.: I'm constantly amazed at how little love the Mavericks get from the national media.

Michael Wilbon: Yo, the Mavs need to win the championship. That's the way it works in professional sports

Yeah, like Phoenix.

This is where the chat gets interesting with a dumb question receiving multiple dumb answers for a total dumbafied dumbthing.

Rockville, Md.: With all of the stress that the NBA is putting on cleaning up its image, what do you think about the report that LeBron James is expecting his second child? He's old (young) enough to be a senior in college and clearly a questionable role model. Can or will the NBA (or Nike) do anything in order to portray responsible adults as their image other then enact a dress code?

Michael Wilbon: Is LeBron's child out of wedlock any different than Tom Brady's or Matt Leinart's? And if so, why? Because one is 22 years old and another is 23 and another is 28? Why doesn't that mean the NFL has to clean up its image?

A) Nice question you prejudicial dolt
B) Mike always does this when he thinks a question is racist or prejudicial or stupid; he changes the subject. And he always misses the real issue, which in this case is the dude saying "pretty questionable role model" which is an insane thing to say. Because he's got tattoos? But what do Tom's kid and Matt's kid have to do with LeBron. Nothing, I'm pretty sure. Yep, I double checked and the answer is nothing. For the record, LeBron's son is 3 and half and Leinart's kid is half a year old. Brady's kid is still in the extremely fine oven being baked. And Mike, let me let you in on a little secret; the difference is those guys are white. LeBron? Not so much. The realquestion is: does that matter?

Later in the chat someone says this:

Washington,D.C.: First, to the comment about LeBron's child: He's been with that girl since high school and they are still together.

I don't know what that even means. Maybe if you've done her for a while, you can do it in style; no rubber? Or maybe dating makes the kid not a bastard? Who knows?

Finally we have:

Bethesda, Md. Re LeBron:

Is this guy kidding? Is he living in 1920? This is 2007. Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. I don't know the numbers but I am sure the number of black kids born out of wedlock is probably only a small percentage higher than other groups. As long as he is going to care for his child what difference does it make if he is "married?"

Michael Wilbon: This is one of a number of comments that say essentially the same thing, so I'm posting this to let the group know what the general feeling is about that one question a few minutes ago. Thanks.

This is the problem with opinions; "I don't know the numbers but I'm pretty sure...", "I DON'T KNOW THE NUMBERS but I'm pretty sure..." OK, I don't know this guy but I'm pretty sure he's a fucking idiot. And Wilbon rewards this douche for just making up some stupid stat that doesn't exist.

You know what's cool about this sort of thing? You can find the actual numbers out. And I did --

Babies out of wedlock: White (25.4%), Black (69.5%), Asian (16.2%), Hispanic (47.9%)

Those %'s are just sooooo damn close, I mean, what the hell is 44 more % right. Like 2 babies? Maybe 4?

And that brings us full circle to the first question and why dismissing things out of hand usurps debate and possible progress: because blacks have more babies out wedlock than any other group, black role models may have a greater obligation to talk about the need to wrap it up. Whites should also be obligated and should do this, but as a black role model LeBron might have more onus on him to promote changing this trend. Maybe not. But worth talking about? Probably.

A Rumor That Doesn't Involve Britney Spear's Drug Habits (psst, it was heroin)

2007-03-04T20:39:00.000-05:00

WaPo's Jason La Canfora reports that new Bronco corner Dre Bly would rather be a Redskin.

Numerous league sources, including several who have spoken with Denver cornerback Dre' Bly, said that the player is miffed that he was dealt to the Broncos last week instead of Washington. As I have reported, the Redskins were deep into trade and subsequent contract talks with Bly - a Detroit Lion at the time - and were dangling cornerback Shawn Springs in discussions with those teams.

I'm all for it. Sprigs is a solid corner, no doubt, but his frequently tattered groin is far from solid and I wouldn't mind watching him hobble out of Washington.

My only concern with Bly is that a guy who once publicly bashed his teammates, could be prone to do it again:

"If we'd had production on offense, in particular the quarterback position, Mooch wouldn't have been fired...We're all at fault, but I just feel like Joey [Harrington]'s been here four years, and being the No. 3 pick in the draft, he hasn't given us anything, He hasn't given us what the third pick in the draft should give us."

In the chemistry conscious NFL it's doubtful that a guy who's unhappy with his situation would be kept in that situation, especially when he's filling the shoes of a well-liked and recently deceased player. I expect this to happen.

Trashing Talking 101

2007-03-03T22:14:00.000-05:00

With rampant free agency ruminations on various message boards, a minor feud has developed between WaPo Redskins Insider and the official team message board, ExtremeSkins.com

Pointless? Indeed. But as a wonderful by-product I became a better person by reading this masterpiece of hatred:

Maybe your judgment is impaired, I don't know. I'm sure a lot of blood has rushed to your head while you've been grabbing your ankles. In any event, it's hilarious you're making accusations about JLaC holding his readers -- the same ones he met for beers last week -- in low regard.

You know who's held in low regard? Every fan who puts up with the worst stadium in the NFL, the most expensive tickets, the most restrictions on game-day parking and walking, the most dysfunctional front office, restricted-view seats, club-endorsed scalping, radio broadcasts with more ads than action, and a million other small indignities -- and yet continues to bleed burgundy and gold! And why? Because we're all in it together. And you come in here and trash this blog, a place for those same fans -- and a place that was doing just fine before you slug-trailed your sorry a$$es in here.

So go back over to your corporate-sponsored black hole to post your brand-building, Six-Flags approved, TomKat Klub droolings. And in so doing be sure to trash the media whenever possible! Because it's the media's fault in general, and JLaC's specifically, that our beloved team's had one good season in the past decade.

I remember the RFK days when Skinsville wasn't overrun with the kind of meat-tenderized and self-satisfied yuppies who populate FedEx -- and, unfortunately, have come trolling around this blog.

What I don't understand is this: When The Snyder looks at you, you yuppie minions, he spits in your collective eye, and you thank him. Don't you realize you could use the extra money he's been charging you to buy your wife that third luxury SUV in the hopes she starts doing you "favors" like the ones she did in college before you realized your marriage is loveless?

Hail!

Quotable

2007-03-03T18:57:00.000-05:00

Big Daddy Shaq, on his 31 points against the Pistons --
"I heard they didn't double-team me because they think I'm an old man. What they didn't know is I'm the baddest in my age bracketus."

Same Case for Art Monk, New Way of Making It

2007-03-03T15:14:00.000-05:00

This post is looooong. If you're interested in reading it, click here.
Once there you may want to just print the thing out. I could've made a .pdf in a pleasant looking, easy to read format, but I could've not and given those choices I went with not. Here's a teaser intro:

As sporting history expands, so expands the list of sport’s ‘What the hell’ moments;
Cubs: What the hell part of his arm is hurt?
John Daly: What the hell are these clubs for again?
Chargers: Ryan Leaf? What the hell were we thinking?
Mike Tyson: What the hell is on my face?

Recent history has also unkindly granted the Washington Redskins a WTHM, as former coaches, players and millions of fans rally behind one question: What the hell is keeping Art Monk out of the Hall of Fame?

ADALIUS THOMAS?!?!?

2007-03-03T06:34:00.000-05:00

The pats have suprise me once again. Not to kkep on the subject of my own team, but the patriots friday night signed the much coveted Adalius thomas! Holy crap this will do wonders for our ancient linebacking corps...We still have so much cap room too! Sorry for the lack of thought into this blog but this is huge news seeing that Thomas was arguably the biggest defensive free agent on the market this year!

So long Corey, thanks for the memories...

2007-03-03T05:39:00.000-05:00

I saw the much expected release of Corey Dillon happened today. Say what you want about the guy, he is probably one of the better overlooked 90's running backs (right there with Curtis My favorite Martin, Jerome Bettis,Marshall Faulk,Terrell Davis..etc). He carried (more or less) the Bengals through that decade and even held the single game rushing record Much respect, Corey. Even though you are slow as shit, caused me much aggravation through your constant fumblitis, you can still run the ball and hopefully you'll find a spot on another roster. Until then, everyone get ready for Laurence Maroney, who I guarantee is coming to a superbowl near you...

Stats Without Names: The Game

2007-03-02T23:29:00.000-05:00

In what I hope becomes a tend here, I'm posting some stats without the names attached, names found in the comments section.

This is an attempt to shake up our (you and me) preconceived notions of the skill level of each player.

Today is NFL completion % QB day:

#1--- 51.5

#2--- 62.3

#3--- 65.3

#4 --- 56.6

#5 --- 68.3 (this QB had the most attempts of the 5 listed)