After several hours parked in front of the NBA League Pass for the past two days, it’s time for some first impressions.

The Good

Ty Lawson

How good was he last night? I predicted the Denver Nuggets to be the third best team in the West this season, and that was assuming that Ty Lawson would play like a rookie point guard.

But his 17 points, six assists, and four rebounds, plus very solid fourth quarter minutes in a close game against a decent Utah team, shows that he may be a real X factor for this team moving forward.

Brook Lopez

Lopez was a monster last night, finishing with 27 points, 15 rebounds, five blocks, and four assists. Of course, the Nets lost, mainly because they couldn’t hold off the mighty T’Wolves down the stretch, but it certainly wasn’t because of Lopez.

Continue reading "First Impressions"

Don't worry fans!  The Nets have an amazing, really incredible, inspiration, and entirely chaotic way to get fans in teh stands.  Only good things can happen here, and that's a promise.  If you fork out 25g's for 10 games of the team's best seats you can put in a list of players that you want to come hang out with you for an hour.  You can have them at home, a birthday party, the office, or anywhere else you'd like to go.  No word on bachelor parties, hanging out at their house, or even the Gold Club all the guys love so much down in the ATL.  Patrick Ewing knows what I'm talking about.  So, lets say you have the cash and the desire to do this.. you really need to consider your options.  I'll help you take a look at the Nets top guys:

Continue reading "The NBA Where Desperation Happens"

The Los Angeles Clippers are expected to pick former Oklahoma Sooners star Blake Griffin Thursday with the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

However, there is not a consensus projection for the No. 2 pick and basketball analysts remain largely uncertain who the Memphis Grizzlies will choose tomorrow in Gotham.

In recognition of the NBA Draft, I have decided to rank the five most accomplished players selected second overall in the past quarter century.

1) Jason Kidd

Kidd, 36, attended the University of California and helped resurrect the Golden Bears dormant basketball program with his stellar play at the point guard position.

Continue reading "The NBA Drafts Five Best Second Overall Picks Since 1984 Sammy Sosa Is a Joke and He Does Not Deserve Induction into the HOF"

For Orlando, this was a shock.  But also a statement.  They are going to resign Turkolu. Lee had an incredible season, but Carter is a much much much better player.  Huge upgrade there.  Then, Jameer Nelson returns and is better than Alston.  Anderson gives depth at the forward spots.  They need antoher inside bench player, but this team just got better.  Wow!!  I really like this move for the Magic.  The only way this works out for the Nets is if James does arrive.

Continue reading "Magic--Nets blockbuster deal"

Continue reading "Wow What a great game the nets had against the pistons WED APRIL 1"

Local news papers, though desperate to stay afloat, have a responsibility not to print one of their extremist's pipe dreams simply because he's been on ESPN.

Drew Sharp, a columnist for The Detroit Free Press, also known as Budini on FM 97.1 “The Ticket,” wrote a little ditty about how desperate the New Orleans Hornets are due to the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and the economic struggles thereafter. He feels now would be a good time to take advantage of said peril and go after Chris Paul (CP3). This would be a great idea, if Hornets management wanted to go down in NBA history as making the most ignorant move ever.

If you haven't read Sharps latest smug attempt to sound clever while insulting the intelligence of the Detroit sports fan, I'll break it down for you.

Continue reading "NOT TOO SHARP BUDINI"

All entriest must be received by Saturday, April 2, by 9:00 A.M., with no edits after that time, in order to qualify.

Scratches will merely be eliminated from your order of finish. Don't worry about them.

You may make comments about your selections. You don't have to.

Each placement will receive positive or negative points, or break even, if the horse you select for that placement is exactly 7 positions away.

For each placement in which you are exactly correct, you will get 40 points. If the horse in that placement is off by one position, you get 30 points. By two positions, you get 25 points, for three positions, you get 20 points, by four positions, you get 15 points, by five positions you get 10 points, by six positions, you get 5 points, by seven positions a push or break even 0 points, by eight positions -5 points, by nine positions -10 points, by ten positions -15 points, by eleven positions -20 points, by eleven positions -25 points, by 12 positions -30 points, and more than 12 positions is -40 points. For example, if Dunkirk finishes fifth, and you have him selected for second, that is three positions away, and you get 20 points. If Dunkirk finishes ninth, and you have him second, Dunkirk nets you zero points.

Continue reading "Predict the order of finish for the 2009 Kentucky Derby"

We’ll start with the West…

Los Angeles Lakers versus Utah Jazz:  It was no question as to which of these two teams would be moving on in the first round, but building up to their season finale match up, a lot of people wondered: “Is L.A. going to give their final home game of the season away to Utah for a chance to play Dallas in the first round?”  Most of us expected as much to happen, but there was obviously something the Lakers knew that we didn’t.    We saw it once Dallas destroyed San Antonio in the same fashion that Los Angeles destroyed Utah.  Not much excitement out of this series.

Continue reading "Playoff Excitement Part 1 Winning in the West"

     Who saw the tabloid, News of the World’s snapshot tainting the reputation of Michael Phelps? The Kodak moment captures the Associated Press’s 2008 male athlete of the year puffing the magic dragon. Since marijuana is not a banned out-of competition substance, what’s the poor guy supposed to do¾ swim for world peace? What people really care about is whether Captain Inhale loaded the bowl or depleted some poor sap’s stash. Considering corporations never destroy the environment or drive local businesses into bankruptcy, corporate executives ordered lawyers to find character disqualification clauses in Phelps’ contracts to avoid paying millions to the Beijing Olympic star. Americans respect big businesses’ enlightened and innovative decisions which boost the bottom line, helping everybody, because higher profits always trickle down, right? If Phelps wishes to rebuild his damaged credibility, he should seek help from an experienced internationally renowned celebrity like Ron Jeremy, who can teach young Michael valuable life lessons about restoring his image. Jeremy’s focus will show Phelps the long, hard path to redemption never comes quickly.

Continue reading "Big Daddy Demands NFL Transparency"