The Foo Fighters played MSG in NYC for the first time in the history of the band. I wouldn’t have guessed that they hadn’t played there before. Anyway, the big performance of the night goes to Drew, the triangle player. If you get bored with Dave Grohl’s banter, you can fast forward a bit, but make sure you catch the triangle solo that Drew puts on for MSG.
Archive for February 2008
Not since Magic Johnson (yeah the guy who owns the movie theaters) did it in the 1987-88 NBA season, has anyone had two sets of back-to-back triple double nights in an NBA season. LeBron finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists last night against the Indiana Pacers in a victory. On top of that, it was a road game after a home game in back-to-back nights of basketball. LeBron’s line in Houston the prior night was 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists. Unfortunately for the Cavs, the first of the two games was a sloppy, sloppy loss to Houston at home.
Regardless, I think it is safe to say who is the clubhouse leader for league MVP at this point. LeBron leads the league in scoring and has led the biggest group of also-rans the NBA has seen in a long time to relative greatness. The Cavs are holding on to the fifth playoff spot in the east despite a host of holdouts and injuries. Add to that some serious trade rumors and it hasn’t been an easy road for the defending Eastern Conference Champions.
Last night’s victory over the Pacers didn’t come without a price. Another Cleveland player went down with injury. This time Daniel Gibson had his legs chopped while Travis Diener was going for a loose ball in the third quarter. At the time, Gibson was 5-8 from the field (5-5 from three point land) with 15 points in only 19 minutes of work. The good news is that x-rays were negative, so hopefully Gibson won’t be out too long.
So, the Cavs are now in a position where the trade deadline has passed. No more help is coming. They will have to treat each player returning from injury like an acquisition as they try to find a cohesive, healthy team to finish their run to the playoffs to try and defend their Eastern Conference title. It won’t be easy. In fact, it won’t even be probable. But then again, it wasn’t probable last year when the Cavs went out and beat the Pistons either.
Bad news for the Cavs today. Jason Kidd has been traded and he isn’t coming to Cleveland. He is headed to Dallas to play for the Mavericks. But the key to making the deal work, since Devean George used his no-trade abilities was a retired Keith Van Horn signing a $4,000,000 deal just so he could be traded to New Jersey to match cap dollars. When the geniuses behind the salary cap put the rules in place, I don’t think this is what they had in mind.
Keith Van Horn hasn’t played a minute of basketball since 2005-06. He has enjoyed being retired and being a dad. For whatever reason, Dallas still has KVH’s rights as a player even though he isn’t under contract. As a result, they can (apparently) sign him and trade him (and his salary) to another team to make sure that they measure up.
As a result, KVH signed a $4,000,000 deal to be traded to New Jersey and apparently he only has to report for duty for about 30 days. That works out to an unbelievable $133,333.33 per day for 30 days so that someone could send their best player to another team. Someone tell me why this makes sense to run a league this way?
I don’t have my thoughts together on this yet, but here are a couple of thoughts.
- How is this good for the game of basketball to have worthless players attached to deals?
- If the owners “locked out” the players in the late 90′s and they had all the bargaining power, how is it that the players seem to be winning out BIG TIME right now.
- Even if this is technically within the rules of trading, it isn’t good for the game for one team to basically trade their best player to clear out cap space.
- When transactions get this complicated it isn’t good for the fanbase to try and follow.
Maybe when I get a cohesive argument together and a possible solution I will write more. For now, I wish I was Keith Van Horn and that is about all I know.
I thought you might all be interested in watching a killer whale launch a sea lion over 50 feet through the air with its tail.
Whale Tosses Sea Lion 50ft In The Air – Watch more free videos
I know that this clip is a couple of days old, but I wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to see it. I found this one to be pretty hilarious.
LZ Granderson is a sports writer for ESPN’s Page 2. He wrote a long article filled with misdirection, emotional manipulation and speculation about Brady Quinn and how he wants a longer investigation into an alleged incident involving the word “faggot” outside of a bar in Columbus on New Year’s eve.
To start the article, Granderson talks about a scary situation from the NBA’s All-Star weekend where he was gay bashed and physically assaulted.
As I walked by the group of men — on my way to the Playboy party, no less — one of them called me a faggot. Then another joined in. They followed me for a while, continuing to hurl names at me. I tried to ignore it but eventually the “Detroit” came out of me and I turned around and said some things I probably shouldn’t have. Next thing I know I’m surrounded and wondering if I’m going to see the dawn and if not for a pair of New Orleans policemen who saw trouble brewing and yelled at the group to break it up, I might not have.
Now, I know that situation sounds scary. I would be terrified in that situation too. There is no reason why anyone should have to put up with the kind of bigotry described in that paragraph. But look at how it reads. Granderson blatantly calls out the word he was called and yet refers to the things he said as “things I probably shouldn’t have.” Now, I have no reason not to believe Granderson’s story, but the fact is that it is a one-sided account which leaves out any details of the things that might have been hateful that spewed out of Granderson’s mouth. What were those “things” he probably shouldn’t have said?
Now, I wouldn’t have a problem with this story normally because columnists write their one-sided opinions all the time. It is their job as a columnist to do so. They are looking to make you think about the stuff that they are saying and usually they want you to agree with them. The problem I have is that Granderson goes on to use this story to talk about why he thinks the Brady Quinn situation should be investigated further.
I will remind you that the Brady Quinn situation involved some people in a shared parking lot between a restaurant and a gay bar. According to the reports from that, a man called 9-1-1 saying that Brady Quinn was part of a group that was yelling gay slurs at him and other people.
The story of Quinn and his alleged night of gay bashing is filled with sketchy details at best.
- The incident happened on New Years and the story didn’t come out until February 13th.
- Some guy named Harris calls 9-1-1 to report the incident, but Quinn was fighting with a dude named Thompson.
- When the cops showed Quinn was cooperative.
- Thompson was arrested for refusing police orders.
- Harris was contacted later and said that Quinn “wasn’t as involved as” others.
- Harris also told the press later of Quinn, “He was standing back and letting his friends do most of it.”
And those are all the details on the case. That is what was uncovered by the press, and the police. Don’t you think if there was something more substantial there that it might have come out?
But apparently this amount of information isn’t good enough for LZ Granderson on ESPN’s Page 2. He goes on to talk about Brady Quinn and Mathew Shepard in the same paragraph. Let’s take this down a notch, please. We have a guy who might or might not have said anything at all in a verbal altercation (Quinn) in a parking lot and that is being contrasted with the most brutal hate-fueled gay bashing murder in the history of the United States. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think that is a tad bit unfair.
And don’t think for a second that I am some knuckle-dragging, anti-gay, blogger with the opposite agenda of Granderson. I do support gay rights and think that bigotry should be handled appropriately. Speaking of which, Granderson also talks about Tim Hardaway’s incident from last year where Hardaway ranted about not liking gay people on the radio. Does Granderson forget that Tim Hardaway was excused from all NBA activities that he had been invited to take part in? Does Granderson forget that Tim Hardaway was also fired from his job with the CBA’s Indiana Alley Cats.
This isn’t to say that this nation is where it needs to be in terms of acceptance of gay people, but I think Tim Hardaway is a good example of the kinds of reactions that we should expect to see when someone proves themselves to be a bigot.
And maybe Brady Quinn has a problem with bigotry too. I don’t know. I wasn’t at the scene of this alleged incident. I can’t see inside Brady Quinn’s heart to know how he feels. What I do know is that he issued a flat denial of the incident. I know that there is a sketchy account on 9-1-1. I know that the other party involved in the alleged fight was the one who got arrested. I know that Quinn cooperated and was not arrested. I know that it took a long time for this article to come out, which usually means someone was digging for something bigger and didn’t find anything.
What we are left with is a legitimate agenda being pushed forward in a dishonest manner at the expense of an athlete with no prior record of wrong-doing. That seems almost as unfair as being attacked in the street for no apparent reason. I don’t even have a problem with Granderson wanting further investigation into Quinn’s activities, but does he have to use evidence like the attack he received over the weekend and Mathew Shepard as evidence to do it? It seems highly overstated to me when we are talking about a he-said he-said incident on one of the drunkest nights of the year and little, to no substantial evidence to prove one way or another what happened that night.
Apparently Hank Steinbrenner thinks baseball is being singled out and he doesn’t like it. As a result he had this to say.
“Everybody that knows sports knows football is tailor-made for performance-enhancing drugs. I don’t know how they managed to skate by. It irritates me. Don’t tell me it’s not more prevalent. The number in football is at least twice as many. Look at the speed and size of those players.”
BAM! That is a serious jab at the NFL. I wonder how they will respond. Will they be ok? How could they possibly answer these allegations? Greg Aiello has the answer. A calm, collected, well-reasoned bitch slap to the face with facts.
Answered NFL spokesman Greg Aiello: “We’ve had year-round random testing with immediate suspensions since 1990 and we conduct approximately 12,000 steroids tests a year.”
How perfect is that? Don’t claim to be perfect. Don’t claim to be superior. Just lay out some facts that make the other party look absolutely silly. Greg Aiello deserves a raise.
I warmed up some coffee from this morning and I am ready to go until I get bored. Of course, I am really just looking forward to the three-point competition so I can see Boobie Gibson compete.
- First up “Shooting Stars” which I think is taking over for that 3-ball competition. I don’t know if anyone cares about this competition, which pairs an NBA star with a WNBA star and an old-timer to shoot from certain spots on the floor.
- Yawn, yawn, yawn.
- The only thing to say right now is how much I miss the Czar, Mike Fratello. I know he coached the most boring brand of basketball in the history of the NBA when he was in Cleveland, but he won without much talent. I shudder to think what he could do with LeBron and the also-rans that populate the Cleveland roster today.
- I don’t know anything about the Haier brand, but the song in their commercials is good. The performance of it is bad, but if you gave it to U2, or Aerosmith or even Chris Daughtry, I promise you it would be a hit.
- Holy shit! Was that a Damon Jones sighting? What the hell is he doing there? He begged to be in the 3-point contest last year and they said no. But there is Jones this year with his faux-hawk and a rouge velvet jacket. What a whacko.
- While I have downtime and because I have seen an Arby’s commercial, I am going to check and see if the rumor that I heard is true. I heard that Arby’s ships all their “meats” as liquids in bags. Everyone that I tell this rumor says it must be false, and yet, I have never gotten around to researching it. Yes, folks. This is what my wife married.
- Stupid Snopes made it too easy. Apparently, Arby’s meat is shipped in a “self-basting” solution which some employees might confuse as the meat itself. Snopes assures us all that the rumor is false. Oh well.
- OK, so while I was doing that, San Antonio won the shooting competition with David Robinson, Tim Duncan and a WNBA’er that I still don’t know. Thankfully that portion of the evening is over.
The skills competition. This competition has been a joke over the last 10 years because the fundamentals have gotten so bad in the game. Don’t believe me? Remember that Darius Miles was a top draft pick in the period of decline that I speak of. If Darius hadn’t appeared with Scarlett Johansson in a movie, imagine how low on the totem pole of the universe he would dwell.- J-Kidd is up in the competition and Reggie Miller went out on a limb to say that Kidd was trying out for a spot on the Mavericks. Kinda funny, really. Uh oh. J-Kidd couldn’t hit the three for the life of him. I don’t remember when Kidd turned into such a bad shooter.
- Is it me or does Jason Kidd’s young son already have a stache?
- Dwyane Wade is up next in the skills challenge. I think he just got the benefit of a foul call as he was going through the first skill.
- This just in, but I don’t think Dwyane Wade is healthy.
- This also just in, I don’t think Dwyane Wade’s parents can spell. I can’t tell you how much I hate typing his name.
- They just showed LeBron and he looks like he stole his coat from Inspector Gadget.
- OK, the skills competition is complete. We are getting through this garbage quickly. Very nice work by the NBA. They are doing a better job of pushing these events along. If I am rooting for everything to get moved along more quickly, someone tell me why I am watching at all.
- I love Charles Barkley, but he must ignore all the producers that are invariably screaming in his ear during broadcasts. He never saw a commercial break he couldn’t talk his way straight into.
- Finally, the moment that the homer in me has been waiting for. The three point competition. I am really hoping Boobie is on fire like he was last night. I don’t hold out too much hope, but I am rooting hard even though this doesn’t really matter.
- Did Jason Kapono just call it a “stiff field?” I don’t think that is what he meant at all.
- Rip Hamilton is up first and the question I had has finally been answered. No mask for the three point competition.
- Hamilton finishes with 14 because he stepped on the line a bunch. I don’t think I have ever seen them watch the line so closely before.
- Boobie is up now!
- Boobie passed Rip Hamilton at least with 17 points!
- I am such a homer.
- I know it is going to be a controversial point here, but I gotta say just playing New Orleans style music doesn’t do it for me. As a style, I don’t really gravitate to it all that much. It has to be really really loud and or jazzy for me to be interested. Too much of the stuff I hear is middle of the road. I generally don’t like any kind of music at mid tempos and mid volumes.
- So, not to get all geek here, but Dirk just tied Boobie at 17, but if the time left is the tie-breaker, I think Boobie had time left on the clock and Dirk had no time left. Again, this doesn’t matter, but I am rooting hard.
- Again with the Damon Jones stuff. Why in the world are they showing Damon Jones? Why is he there? He isn’t in the competition and he isn’t on the allstar team. I bet he had to buy a ticket.
- Kapono knocks down 20. He takes the lead, but Gibson moves onto the second round. For the record, Jason Kapono should still be a Cleveland Cavalier. He was left unprotected for Jeff McInnis among others when he was taken in the expansion draft.
- Boobie gets 17 in the second round. At least he is consistent. Hopefully he put up enough to hold off either Dirk or Kapono, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
- Dirk gets 14 and Boobie is looking good in the clubhouse!
- I know that this whole thing has taken a turn and there is nothing witty going on right now. Still, I am enjoying this. Plus, I can’t beat Barkley.
- Barkley and Kenny Anderson are using the word “tittie” and I don’t think that would be allowed on regular TV. I know it isn’t allowed on regular radio.
- Kapono caught fire and went for 25 to put Gibson’s dreams in the showers. Still, not a bad showing for Gibson and the Cavaliers.
- So the vote for the best year’s slam dunk competition is still going and last time I looked the year 2000 was beating 1984 and 1988 among others. This is a really bad way to tabulate the “best” because it is according to txt messages sent in by viewers and we all know that the average txt messager was born well after 1980, so 1984 and 1988 don’t stand a chance even though they were THE definitive slam dunk competitions. Vince Carter was amazing, but he didn’t have any competition.
- I don’t want to be mean, but I just don’t get Dr. John. I am sure some music snobs will tell me that I am “wrong” but dude can’t sing hardly at all. If that makes me a bad person, then I guess I am a bad person. Seriously, I love that song and I know where it is going, and I know where it can go, and he went places he shouldn’t with some of those notes.
- Magic Johnson doesn’t deserve a soliloquy in any way shape or form ever. Also it was awkward that they let Magic talk, but Dr. J didn’t have a microphone and was just talking to himself, basically.
- Does anyone remember when Gerald Green won last year and that was the only thing that the Celtics had to be excited about last season? What a difference a year makes as Green plays for the T-Wolves and the Celts have the best record in the east.
- OK, we have had some good dunks so far, but now Gerald Green has a cupcake on the rim and he is going to do something crazy with a lit candle.
- Gerald Green blew out the candle while dunking on an alley oop! 1000 points for creativity there.
- By the way, we all know that this whole day is really for the all-star players to do their impression of def comedy jam. Watching the reaction shots of all the NBA stars is by far the funniest part of the show.
- There is nothing to say about Dwight Howard. Simply amazing right now. He shouldn’t be able to jump that high with how tall he is. Wow. Dwight Howard finishes round one with TWO perfect scores.
- It’s over. It’s over. Dwight Howard wins in a landslide. That’s it folks. No more. I am done. I made it through the competition. It was a good night. Thanks for hanging with me. I can’t listen to any more of the banter between Dr. J and Cheryl Miller.
Maybe some producer in the back of the show should let the guests know about the FCC and what kinds of words are and aren’t allowed to go over the airwaves. The funniest part of this whole video is where Fonda just plaintively looks at the audience and says the name of the monologue. I wish I could see the faces of the audience members after hearing Jane Fonda use that ridiculous word.
Jamario Moon Someone might have wanted to wait until he got to the locker room for this special hand signal he had for someone in the handshake line. I don’t think he was really upset or anything, and I am assuming he was just goofing around with someone, but he landed in the unfortunate position of throwing his middle finger almost directly into a camera on the court after the game. Whoops!
