If Your Old Pal New York Vinnie was in charge of picking out a “Theme Song” for all of Pro Sports there is only one tune that I would choose. New York Vinnie would use the old Janet Jackson song “What have You Done For Me Lately” because nothing could be more Frickin ideal to describe the mind-set of Pro Sports fans. Today Yankees skipper Joe Girardi could walk into any restaurant in all of New York City and get himself anything on the menu for free. That is what happens when you win the World Series; however if he goes the next five years without making the MLB Playoffs fans will be screaming for his scalp.

Past glories are great; once you have retired. Just look at John Elway who will be able to ride his tales of athletic achievement until the day he passes away. However if you are an active player sports fans tend to have pretty short memories. You could be an All-Star for five straight seasons but if you have two bad years in a row the whispers will start that your career is over. In order to maintain popularity you have to maintain good numbers. Once the stats go down your popularity will begin to plummet.

There were lots of expectations heaped on Elton Brand last year when he signed a five year contract with the Philadelphia 76ers last summer for a reported sum of $80 million. The former Los Angeles Clippers power forward was expected to make  Philadelphia an elite team in the Eastern Conference putting them right up there with Orlando, Cleveland and Boston.

Well as you are probably aware that never happened for Brand and the Sixers; just when he started to get a feel for the team’s offense the big man was injured. He had a surgical procedure on his shoulder ending his season early and not long after that the Sixers head coach Maurice Cheeks was terminated. The team did make the Playoffs and played the Orlando Magic tough in the first round of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs but were eliminated.

Brand spent the summer rehabbing and said he was in great shape when he got to training camp. However the team now had a new head coach former Wizards bench boss Eddie Jordan and a suddenly improved player in Marreese Speights. Speights because of his offense (20 points and 8 rebounds in the loss the the Phoenix Suns Monday night) has started to get more minutes than Brand. Speights played the final 16:27 of the game on Monday while Brand was tied to the bench.

Needless to say Brand is extremely disappointed in this turn of events. Brand told “The Intelligencer” “This is very difficult. I just root the team on. Hopefully, if I get a chance, I’ll be there to box out, rebound and do what we have to do. The guys are playing well, so the decision’s made. … You kind of get to expect it a little bit.”

Brand is still the starter at least at this point in Philadelphia because of Speights defensive shortcomings. However Coach Jordan told reporters that Speights is staring to improve on the defensive end of the ball. That could mean a new starter in lieu of Brand. You are not going to be paying a bench player $16 million per season. So is Brand’s time with the Sixers starting to come to an end?

Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy felt personally betrayed last Summer when Brand signed with Philadelphia instead of re-signing with Los Angeles. However would the Clippers want Brand after drafting Blake Griffin with the number one pick in this past NBA Draft? It would have to be a creative deal with most likely center Chris Kaman and at least 2-3 other players from L.A. Could “MY BOYS” be involved as the New York Knicks have Larry Hughes whose contract worth $13 million this season expires at the end of the season making him a valuable bargaining chip?

New York Vinnie does believe that the days are numbered for Brand with the Sixers. Elton might end up with his “Philadelphia Freedom” a lot sooner than he ever thought possible in the Summer of 2008.

They say that each cloud has a silver lining; for the New Jersey Nets who are now without guard Chris Douglas-Roberts for at least the next few days New York Vinnie has found their silver lining. Since the team currently has an 0-7 record they can’t possibly be any worse without Douglas-Roberts than they were with him. The “Associated Press” has reported that the guard now in his second season with New Jersey as well as in the NBA has contracted the H1-N1Virus otherwise known as the “Swine-Flu.”

The shooting guard had been in the starting line-up for New Jersey for their first five games. He missed his first game Friday night when the Nets lost to the Sixers. Team President Rod Thorn verified that the former Memphis player had tested positive for the virus. New Jersey head coach Lawrence Frank said that although it is believed that Douglas-Roberts is no longer contagious the team has no idea of a timetable for his return to playing. Frank told reporters “He doesn’t sound very good. All the measures are taken, now it’s a matter of when he feels better.”

Douglas-Roberts had averaged 15.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game this season before getting sick. The team is scrambling for healthy bodies and could only have the NBA minimum of eight players dressed on the bench for the Nets’ loss to Boston Saturday night. New Jersey lost guard Courtney Lee on Saturday as he is now day to day with strained left groin.

Paul Simon sang these words a long Frickin time ago and they are still Frickin just as true today as when he wrote them; “Still a man hears what he wants to hear. And disregards the rest.” No greater proof of that is going on with all the Frickin lemmings in the media who are trying to make a Frickin story out of something that in fact is a Frickin fantasy. And this past Frickin week if it did not hit its Frickin peak then New York Vinnie just may stop watching half-time shows on National TV NBA broadcasts.

This was the week that was; the week that reigning NBA MVP and Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star forward LeBron James came to New York Vinnie’s home town New York City. You would not be this far down in this column unless you were Frickin aware that “The Chosen One” can opt out of his contract at the end of this season and test the Free Agent waters. Now most of the talk has centered around LBJ coming to MSG and playing for “MY BOYS” the New York Knicks. However the New Jersey Nets have also been mentioned quite a bit as have a couple of real Frickin oddball choices.

Let’s go those Frickin oddball choices first off; one of them came in the beginning of the week as Sam Smith a journalist who has covered the NBA for years and a guy New York Vinnie has always respected came up with this Frickin whacked idea. Smith wrote about the possibility of LeBron going to the Los Angeles Lakers which is just totally Frickin ridiculous. The only way that could happen is if the Cavaliers were to work out a sign and trade for Ron Artest or Lamar Odom. New York Vinnie has a greater chance of being elected President than that Frickin happening.

That is bad enough but Thursday night on “TNT” as they were broadcasting the Chicago Bulls beating the Cavaliers; analyst Reggie Miller brought it up during the game. Now after he brought it up he Frickin ridiculed it so why did he even mention it and give it more Frickin exposure and credibility.

Friday night the Cavaliers were in MSG and just Frickin walloped “MY BOYS.”  Through out the Frickin game the guys broadcasting the game on “ESPN“ kept talking about James coming to MSG or going to play for the Nets. Then they get to the Frickin half time show and former Mavericks coach Avery Johnson brings the Frickin Houston Rockets into the mix! Even every body on the Frickin panel laughed at that one.

Look New York Vinnie has been telling you since the summer James is going to stay with the Cavaliers. They have a team they don’t have to wait five Frickin years like “MY BOYS” or the Nets do. If you watched the Knicks play the Cavaliers Friday night you know how bad they are. If you watched the Nets play the Celtics Saturday night on “YES” then you saw bad the Nets are. If we as fans realize this what makes you think that LBJ who knows so much about the game and the NBA does not? That is just Frickin stupid!

So the next time some Moron comes on the Frickin TV and talks about LeBron James going here there and Frickin everywhere remember what Your Old Pal New York Vinnie keeps telling you. LeBron James will be playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers next season!

The “Memphis Commercial Appeal” has reported that the Memphis Grizzlies have granted Allen Iverson permission to take a leave of absence  from the team and head to his home in Atlanta in order to deal with what is being labeled as a “personal matter.”  The exit from the team concludes a week filled with controversy for the player and the Grizzlies. The veteran guard signed a one year deal this summer with Memphis for a reported $3.5 million. He missed all of the preseason and the first three games of the regular season after suffering a partial tear of his left hamstring.

Iverson was activated for the last three games and found himself coming into games off the bench something that he was quite unhappy and quite vocal about. The veteran has told media members that he considers himself a starter and coming off the bench is beneath him. Memphis head coach Lionel Hollins has been steadfast that he is not about to make any changes to his starting lineup at the present time. Grizzlies Team Owner Micheal Heisley released a statement earlier this week backing Hollins decision.

According to the report the player met with Heisley after Friday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and then again on Saturday morning. Reports were that he was to leave the team and head home Saturday afternoon. No other information has been released so the reason behind the leave of absence is open to speculation. It could be a family issue or it could be a parting with the team; there is no way to say at the this time. If it is his final time playing for Memphis would this signal the end of Iverson’s NBA career?

Could the Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace be working on a trade that would send Iverson to another team?At $3.5 million and for just one season most likely a deal could be worked out financialy; however would another NBA team want the troubled veteran at this point?

New York Vinnie has been consistently against this deal since it was first talked about in the early speculation sessions. Bottom Frickin line is this; this was a stupid Frickin idea for Iverson to play for the Memphis Grizzlies and all sides did it for all the wrong reasons. The Grizzlies did it because it was a chance for them to increase attendance; Allen Iverson does not fit into this team’s long term plans. And Iverson signed because he had no other choice and wanted to use this year to try to resurrect his NBA career. He has no loyalty to the Grizzlies or the Memphis fans.

This at this point looks like it has all the tell tale signs of ending badly. If it does unfortunately the Memphis Grizzlies and Allen Iverson have only themselves to blame for this sad episode.

Even before New York Vinnie writes a word of this column I realize all the grief and heat that I am going to take for the stand I am going to take. New York Vinnie will get e-mails saying that I am twisted and Frickin sick and my priorities are all messed up. That is fine New York Vinnie has very broad shoulders and you can throw a lot of Crappolla on my back and I will be strong enough to stand it!

New York Vinnie does not always follow conventional Frickin wisdom; I have my own mind and my own set of values. New York Vinnie is not some lemming who follow the Frickin crowd; I go by what my brain and my heart tell me not what society thinks is the correct way to act.

A wise man told New York Vinnie many years ago that there are two kinds of mistakes a person can make; a mistake that is caused by trying too hard or a mistake a person can make by not trying hard enough. He then went on to tell New York Vinnie something that has stuck with me for the rest of my life. He said he could always for give someone for making a mistake by trying too hard but a mistake that is created by not trying hard enough is unforgivable.

Those are words to live by as far as New York Vinnie is concerned; you make a mistake because you are trying too hard New York Vinnie will pat you on the back. However if you make a mistake by giving too little effort than New York Vinnie is going to call you what you are; a lousy Scumbago. You don’t show any effort that means that you lack pride. And if you do not have pride you are Frickin worthless.

Friday night the Washington Wizards  lost a game to the Indiana Pacers by the score of 102-86. It was a game that the Wizards could have won had they exerted themselves instead of just going through the motions. Washington played the game with no heart and no passion and it showed in their lack of effort on the hardwood. Wizards All-Star forward Antawn Jamison injured his right shoulder during the preseason and has had to start the regular season on the injured list.

Jamison is a big time competitor and there is no doubt he is chomping at the bit to get back on the floor. However it is one thing to be frustrated because you can not play quite another if your anger is caused by a half-hearted effort by your teammates. According to the “Washington Post” Jamison let his teammates know his displeasure in the locker room in no uncertain terms. Reports say that Jamison could heard screaming and cursing in the hallway outside the team’s locker room. When reporters entered the room they saw that Jamison had also taken the fruit tray provided for the team and had thrown it off the table. There were reports of fruit, candy and pieces of the broken tray all over the floor.

Now New York Vinnie knows that lots of sports fans are going to think that Jamison blew the whole thing out of proprtion and overreacted. Not New York Vinnie though; I applaud Jamison for getting so fired up and hopefully he has inspired his teammates to play better. Every once in a while you have to speak out when you are disgusted by what you see around you; and to New York Vinnie this was one of those times. Antawn Jamison is the kind of player that New York Vinnie would want on his team; a guy who is unwilling to put up with a lack of effort.

The beginning of the NBA season is a time of optimism as every team starts out with a fresh slate and a bunch of dreams. Well every team starts out with a fresh slate ; some teams dreams are more realistic than others. There is a group of teams that even at the beginning of the season no deep in their hearts there is no Frickin way they are going to make the NBA Playoffs.

Now that list fluctuates with some teams improving and leaving the group while other teams decline and take their places. However for the last few years you can count on at least four teams not ever in the Post Season race. New York Vinnie will bite the bullet and admit that “MY BOYS” the New York Knicks are one of the Frickin groups charter members. Isiah Thomas put the Knicks back into the Frickin stone age over his four year reign of Frickin terror. And so far Donnie Walsh does not have a Frickin clue how to turn things around.

Two other core members of the Frickin “Hall Of Shame” are the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Clippers or as New York Vinnie refers to them as Upper and Lower Slobovia. Neither one of these Frickin teams are even in the right Frickin country never mind the right path to winning. Although both teams have some nice young players injuries have already hit both teams and are going to retard progress by players like Kevin Love and Blake Griffin.

The fourth and final team of our Frickin Motley Crew is the Sacramento Kings. It has been a lot of years since the Kings were thought of as legitimate contenders and with the Western Conference as deep as it is this is certainly not going to be the Frickin year they break on through to the other side. The Kings have again a few good players but they got rid of two of their cornerstones last season and did not get much back in return. Sacramento traded John Salmons and Brad Miller to the Chicago Bulls last season which helped solidify that team and put them in the Playoffs.

The Kings now have Andres Nocioni as compensation for that trade; a player that as far as New York Vinnie is concerned is pretty close to nearing his Frickin expiration date as far as fulfilling his potential. Now playing in his sixth NBA season Nocioni has career averages of 11.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Not great numbers to someone you are paying $7.5 million this season.

The “Sacramento Bee” on Friday said that the team’s best player Kevin Martin has a difficult decision to make. Martin Monday night suffered a hairline fracture of his left  wrist against the Memphis Grizzlies. Here are his choices; he can play with a soft cast on his hand but he could make the wrist much worse by doing that including breaking it completely. He can wear a hard cast and hope that in about six weeks his wrist will have healed. Or he can have an operation where they insert a screw into his wrist and six weeks later he will be back almost good as new.

Yo Kevin, New York Vinnie does not understand what kind of a tough decision you have? Are you going to play for your Frickin terrible team and risk breaking your Frickin wrist? Why would you do that My Man? Chances are you will not even be with these Frickin bums when you become a Free Agent. Kevin; your team is going nowhere this season so have the surgery take the time off and get yourself well. Listen to Your Old Pal New York Vinnie on this; you will thank me later.

There are many players who leave college and enter the NBA too early; Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert may have stayed in a year too long.  It’s not that Hibbert was injured his last year at Georgetown University or that his game regressed. However his draft status may have fallen by coming out after the 2008 NCAA season instead of in 2007. Hibbert and his school both had great NCAA Tournaments in 2007; but the same thing did not happen the following year. Perhaps Hibbert would have been drafted higher had he come out a year earlier; but one can only look forward.

So far things have been going quite well for the center now in his second season in the NBA. The “Indianapolis Star” reported Friday that even though we are barely into the new season Hibbert so far has shown quite an improvement in his low post game. Through four games the big man is averaging 10.8 points and he is leading the club with 10.3 rebounds per game.

Pacers veteran center Jeff Foster who has played against some pretry Frickin good centers in his career. Foster is now in season number 11 and that time period accounts for a lot of quality big men. Foster is full of praise for his teammate. The veteran told reporters “In the very near future, if not right now, he’s going to be a dominant low-post scorer, a guy you can count on throwing the ball to and getting you points.”

The Pacers tried for years to build a team around their former big man Jermaine O’Neal but he was never quite the same player after Isiah Thomas was fired. There has been talk over the years that O’Neal had held a grudge against Indiana because they did not fire Zeke until after the team had signed the big man to a long term deal.

Before that you have to go back to Rik Smits the “The Flying Dutchman” but he was not a real low post presence in the pivot. In a time where there are not a whole lot of truly quality centers in the NBA; if the Pacers can develop Hibbert they will have themselves a very valuable weapon. So far this season he looks like he is at least on the right track.

New York Vinnie is not the biggest fan of Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy. Now part of that reason is an accident of birth; he happens to be the brother of  “The Quitter” former NBA coach turned untalented NBA broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy. New York Vinnie pretty much Frickin despises “The Quitter” for leaving “My Boys” the New York Knicks in the middle of the season because he was Frickin burnt out.

However even if he was not related to “The Quitter” New York Vinnie most likely would still dislike Stan-Van; he is loud, obnoxious and a Frickin whiner. Stan-Van has already started whining this season even though we are barely more than a week into it. The Magic head coach spoke with “NBA Fanhouse” complaining that his center Dwight Howard does not get any sympathy from NBA Game Officials.

Van Gundy was not happy after Howard was given 11 fouls by the referees over the last two games. The Magic coach said “He gets penalized for being so strong. We give guys an advantage in this league for being quick, but we penalize them for being strong like Dwight. If you hit a perimeter guy on a drive the way they are allowed to hit Dwight all the time around the basket, it would be a flagrant foul. Because the big guys are so strong and don’t go tumbling to the floor, the defenders wind up and whack away. That’s just the way it is. That’s a fact. It’s not the referees fault. It’s the way they are told to call the games. They want freedom of movement on the perimeter, but they are not worried about the big guys being able to move and use their skills. Strength is penalized. And that’s frustrating for Dwight, and for me.”

Yo, Stan-Van; you have the best center by far in the NBA there is nobody else that is in the same Frickin area code. D-Howard has worn a Frickin “Superman” outfit in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star weekend. “Superman” does not get sympathy My Man; you knock a Frickin Earl Boykins to the ground he will get the call. That is how things have been called Stan-Van since a little guy named David took on a Frickin giant named Goliath.

The Bottom Frickin line is this; you can not walk around with a giant “S” on your chest and expect people to have a whole lot of pity for you. Stan-Van here is a piece of advice from your Old Pal New York Vinnie; next time you open your mouth to say something Frickin stupid eat another Frickin donut instead.

The Los Angeles Lakers were pretty freaked out earlier this week when big man Pau Gasol underwent a sonogram and it showed he had a slight tear in his right hamstring. Their blood pressure returned to normal when Wednesday he had an MRI which revealed that there was no tear the hamstring was just strained. The “Los Angeles Times” reported Thursday that Gasol has been cleared by team doctors to start resuming basketball activities. So does that mean that Gasol will be on the floor Friday night as the Lakers will play in Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder? Gasol told reporters “I’m far from playing on Friday.”

Gasol said that the results of the MRI were quite encouraging. The native of Spain told the media “The results of the MRI were promising and positive. So that gives me a little bit of hope that I’ll be back soon. I just hope that I can increase the level of work that I’m doing right now until I feel good about it and my hamstring responds well.”

New York Vinnie has written this before when it comes to hamstring injuries you proceed with Frickin caution. A hamstring injury is a tricky thing and if you try to rush back too soon you risk really being up the Frickin creek. The Lakers are now 4-1 and got a double-double on Wednesday from center Andrew Bynum against the Houston Rockets with 17 points and 17 boards.

However for what ever Frickin reason Coach Zen otherwise known as Lakers head coach Phil Jackson wants Gasol back in the lineup yesterday. Jax; New York Vinnie has got to tell you if you rush Gasol back you will Frickin regret it. If this was the end of the regualr season and your club was fighting for a Playoff spot that is understandable. Same thing goes if you are in a Playoff series. But to rush him back with a 4-1 record in early November is just Frickin Stupid. Phil let Frickin nature run its course and let Gasol come back when he is ready.

Do you remember that old Tom Petty song “I Won’t Back Down?” Well New York Vinnie’s newest hero Memphis Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins should start using that as his Frickin theme song. The “L-Train” has  a pair of Stones something that not every coach in the NBA has and he is proving it with the way that he is handling his “Frickin Diva” Allen Iverson.

The “Memphis Commercial Appeal” has reported that Hollins is showing Iverson who truly is in charge of the Grizzlies and that he is not about to let a Frickin lunatic run the Frickin Asylum. Hollins has Iverson coming into games off the bench since he returned to active duty and has expressed his displeasure. The coach told reporters “There’s no way we’re making a change right now.”

Memphis Team Owner Michael Heisley told reporters that he is standing behind his coach on this issue. The Grizzlies head honcho said “It’s up to the coach to handle these issues. Lionel will handle it. This is a situation that’ll be handled between Lionel and Allen. What Allen said was inappropriate, but I’m not going to make a big deal out of it. Allen expressed his frustration about not playing and I understand that.”

This the way that Michael Curry and Joe Dumars should have handled Iverson  traded Chauncey Billups last season after the Pistons to get him. However Curry tried the diplomatic approach which caused the Detroit Pistons season to implode and cost Curry his job. Hollins has shown that he has the ability to be the boss; Iverson does not have to like him he just has to respect him.

So does this mean that the Frickin soap opera is over in Memphis and this will be the final thing we hear about this issue. New York Vinnie thinks that is highly unlikely. However New York Vinnie now has all respect in the world for the “L-Train” and the way he is handling this overgrown Frickin baby.