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March Madness is here...

March 15th 2011 22:23
Okay, so with the NCAA tourney starting Thursday(the play-in games still don’t count, sorry), I decided to do a breakdown of the first round games, giving my picks for who should win, and why. I’ll also put my picks for the whole bracket on the bottom of the page. If anyone wants to join the Hulu’s Lounge group on the ESPN.com Tourney Challenge, I will give to anyone that beats me a free Hulu’s Lounge shirt of their choosing(No, they haven’t been made yet, but I’ll keep my word if I lose. I’m pretty sure no one is going to join anyway.) Okay so first thing’s first is the East Region.
East
Locks for the Region
Ohio State, Syracuse, North Carolina

To get the easy picks out of the way, Ohio State, Syracuse, and North Carolina will easily roll over their first round opponents(Sorry Indiana St., but not even Larry Bird will save you from the shellacking your are going to receive from the Orange in the first round.

Solid Picks
West Virginia, Kentucky, Washington

These three teams all are significantly better than their opponents, but I’m not sold on any of them for a few different reasons. First off, Kentucky is probably the best team out of this group and deserves to be in the “lock” category, but they are just too young for me too give them “lock” status. Brandon Knight leads this young Wildcat team which put a beating on No.2 seed Florida over the weekend to win the SEC Championship(I know, I know, Florida deserved a No. 2 seed as much as Erik Spoelstra deserves the NBA Coach of the Year award, but I’ll get back to this later on.) West Virginia, on the other hand, is a more battle tested team coming out of the Big East. Everyone is picking this team to lose because last year all of the middle tier Big East teams never made it to the weekend. Well, obviously something Doug Gottlieb didn’t realize is that this year’s crop of tournament teams isn’t that good, and don’t try and convince me Clemson is going to pull this upset when first of all they have to play in the play in game 2 days before and then travel to their next game, while the Mountaineers rest, and secondly, when Clemson hasn’t beaten a tourney team, plays in a horrible conference where they can inflate their record, and chokes away ever big game they ever really play in. Sorry, Clemson fans just not your year. I really do like Isiah Thomas and Washington, but there is only one problem. I can’t get a read on how good these teams coming out of the Pac 10 are because I haven’t seen many of their games, and because the bottom of the Pac 10 is shit. I still think they will handle Georgia pretty capable, but if Isiah has some trouble with the Georgia defense they may have some problems, but I don’t see it happening. Georgia only win over a ranked opponent came against Kentucky early in the season when Kentucky was still trying to figure it all out, since then Georgia is 0-4 vs ranked opponents

The toss-ups
Villanova, Marquette

As my friends, Alex and Alan, say “Marquette plays everyone tough”. I didn’t totally agree with that statement at the beginning of the year, but after watching them play for most of the season annoint me a believer. All, but 2 of their regular season losses were by single digits, and they once again are a battle tested team. They know what it feels like to play in the biggest game under the brightest lights. Xavier knows how to travel around the country and beat up on teams that my intramural team would give a run for their money, it’s just not the same. When all of the pressure is on, I don’t know how Xavier will handle it, but I do know what Marquette will do. People say that Xavier gets the edge because they will play this one close to home, but it’s the NCAA tourney, so their is a feeling of infamiliarity no matter how close the court is that you play on. Now, for my beloved Wildcats. I switched this pick about 15 times, because I know how truly awful the Cats have been playing these past few weeks, but if Fisher and Stokes are 80% each I think the Cats pull this one out. They lost to South Florida because neither of these two were on the court when the game was on the line (well that, and that Maurice Cheeks plays defense about as well as his dad, Mo Cheeks, coaches.). If that happens against George Mason later this week, it may spell trouble but I have faith in Jay Wright not to screw this up. I hope. (Has anyone else noticed that Jay Wright is becoming less and less well-dressed as Nova continued to play worse and worse? I swear that was the first thing to pop into my head when I watched the USF game. Maybe Jay should put on a three-piece suit for this one.

West
Locks
Duke, UCONN, Arizona, San Diego St.

This region of the bracket has the strongest No. 1-5 seeds in the tourney, and it will show during the first weekend.(If your asking why Texas is not up there, just scroll down twice and read the next paragraph.) Duke, San Dego St, and UCONN have nothing to worry about because none of the teams they are playing will be within 20 at halftime, but Arizona may get a little scare from this Memphis team early, but as long as Derrick Williams touches the ball every time down the floor, there really shouldn’t be a problem because no one can guard him 1-on-1. Add that with the fact that Menmphis shoots the three about as well as Mike Bibby plays defense, and you have a recipe for a Zona victory.

Solid Picks
Texas, Temple, Cincy,
I know I know I said that this bracket region had the strongest 1-5 seeds, but then didn’t include Texas in my “locks” category. I did this because of the team they are playing, Oakland(And no this is not Oakland, California, but Oakland, Michigan.) Oakland put up a good fight against some ranked teams earlier in the year, and I feel that though this team could have put up a fight against a lot of teams in this tournament, but just not Texas. Texas has been playing great basketball as of late, not including their loss in the Big 12 championship game to No.1 seed Kansas. I do see Texas as lock, but Rick Barnes isn’t really known for leading his teams deep into the tourney so I’m just protecting myself against another Rick Barnes meltdown. If this were any other year, Temple would be an absolute lock in this first round matchup. Why do you ask? Because Penn State basketball hasn’t been good, I don’t think ever, or atleast not in my lifetime. This year Penn State got on a little roll during the end of the season beating both Purdue and Michigan State in the Big Ten tourney, before running into Jared Sullinger and the Ohio State Buckeyes who brought them back down to reality. Cincy is another middle of the pack to back of the pack Big East team in terms of talent, but they are very well coached. The difference in this game is going to be defense, because Missouri doesn’t play any. Mizzou gives up more points per game than Cincy scores meaning that the Bearcats should have no problem putting up points on this Tigers team, and Cincy holds teams to around 60 points per game add in the physicallity of this Bearcats team and it seems like it should add up to win.(On a side note, what if Lance Stephenson stayed for his Sophomore year at Cincy instead of stupidly jumping into the NBA draft. Cincy would have the scorer they would need to take over games in the tourney, and they could have made some serious noise.)

The “Toss-ups”
MIchigan

I’m making this pick as much for the Wolverines as I’m picking against the Volunteers. This Tennessee team is falling apart at the seams. Bruce Pearl can’t got about 2 weeks without getting in trouble with the NCAA, and the lack of a consistent coaching presence seems to be hampering a once promising season for the Volunteers. I know that Michigan is a young and that most “experts” don’t like young teams, but one I’m not an expert and two I think being a young team can help teams in situations like this. Michigan will not come out scared of this Volunteers team because Tennesse hasn’t given them anything to really worry about. This is only a toss-up because I’m not totally sold on this Michigan which was shaky as times during the year.

Southwest Region
Locks
Kansas, Georgetown, Purdue, Louisville, Notre Dame

Notice the three Big East teams in my “lock” picks, and notice the trend that has been going on throughout this whole analysis column. Some people may call me a “homer” for the Big East, but I just think the Big East is a much better conference than the rest of them, with the Big 12 coming in second. Notre Dame and Kansas once again play “powderpuff” games that no one really needs to watch because those teams honestly never win. Some may come close, but it’s never really in doubt. Morehead St. turns the ball over too much and is horrible defending the 3 ball, which is basically all good Rick Pitino teams do and this year’s Louisville team is no excpetion. Going into the season, Purdue was my dark horse pick to win it all, but losing Robbie Hummel for the second season in a row really set them back. This Purdue team is still good enough to make a serious run in tourney with JaJuan Johnson and Etwan Moore(my favorite name tandem on any team), and it starts against St. Peters. Georgetown is a team I’m on the fence about, just not in the first round. They should cruise by whoever wins the play-in game, and move on to the next round, but if Chris Wirght’s wrist still isn’t fully healed this may be the only win they get.

Solid picks
UNLV, Richmond

Yes, yes, you did read that correctly I have a 5-12 upset in my solid picks. This occurs for two reasons. First, that Richmond, just like Hansel, is sooo hot right now(If you didn’t get that movie reference, please do yourself a favor and find yourself a copy of Zoolander. It might be Ben Stiller’s best performance ever. You’ll thank me later. ) They coasted through the A-10 tourney on their way to the tittle. Both Richmond and Vanderbilt rely on the deep ball, but Richmond has the senior leadership and Vandy doesn’t have one senior that sees minutes on their whole team. Besides sneaking out a win at home against Kentucky and handling a overmatched St. Mary’s team that got snubbed by those damn NCAA officials, Vandy hasn’t beaten a solid tourney team since the beginning of this year. The UNLV pick is simple Illnois has had trouble doing much of anything consistently throughout this whole year. Mix that with the fact that UNLV plays great defense and you have a recipe for success if your a fan of the Runnin’ Rebels.

The “Toss-ups”
Florida St.

This comes down to one person, Chris Singleton. If he is healthy, the ‘Noles have the electric scorer to go along with the stifling defense that they have played all year. Remeber that this ‘Noles team beat Duke with Singleton in lineup in the middle of January. Texas A&M has a great inside game, but I think the Florida St. defense can smother them enough that if Singleton takes over the Noles could dance into the weekend games.


Southeast
Locks
Pitt, St. John’s, BYU, Florida

Once again, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will get by easily in their first round games, with BYU following close behind. Why just BYU, you ask? Because until someone on Wofford learns how to Jimmer, this one is going to be ugly. I don’t care that they lost Davies that won’t matter until they see the Johnnies in the second round. St. John’s has a littl bit of a tougher game, and they don’t usually play as well when they are the favorites, but I can’t see this team getting bounced out in the first round after everything they have been through this year. Also the farther, St. John’s goes in the tourney the longer I get to see candid shots of my boy Kevin Clark jumping up and down on the sidelines. If you don’t know who he is, just look for the white kid on the St. John’s bench. It might not make sense now but it will when you see it in action.

Solid Picks
Wisconsin

Wisconsin was a lock until I got real nervous about the fact that I knew nothing about Belmont to make the Badgers a really lock. I understand that Bo Ryan’s team are too discipline to lose this kind of game after the season they had, but it’s the tourney and these are the types of games good teams lose. Now, do I see Belmont pulling the upset? No, but would I be shocked if it happened? No. Still, Wisconsin is a pretty solid pick.

The “Toss-ups”
Butler, Michigan St., Utah St.

Butler isn’t the same team that went to the final four that is for certain, but this team just didn’t luck back into the NCAA tourney. This isn’t golf you don’t a trip to the BIg Dance every year, just becaus you made it to the Final Four. This Butler team has a lot of good talent, but Matt Howard is the anchor of the this squad, along with Shelvin Mack. ODU has played a lot of good teams close, but close doesn’t get you to the next round, so I am taking the team that has been there before to see if they can conjure up some more March Madness magic. The next two teams I picked for the exact opposite reasons. First off, I picked Mich St., because I think they are getting their pieces back together. Lucas seems to have finally got his quickness back, and their versatility should pose a problem for UCLA. Plus, once again I’m not sold on a high seed coming out of the Pac 10, unlike Washington though I think Michigan St. has better individual players than UCLA. The reason I’m picking Utah St. is that I just have no faith in Kansas St.. I know I know, they beat Kansas on the road, but so Kansas got with their pants down. That stuff always happens in college basketball, and that win over Texas happened when Texas was on a little slide of its own when it lost to Colorado and Nebraska also in a 4 game sequence. The other reason I want Utah St. to win is because they have the best student section in the country. (Before you even start talking about Duke, I just want you to know that most of the kids in the Duke student section wait outside all night just to get into the games, instead of tailgating and having a good time, plus most of them are Asian and are confused because they are waiting for Yao Ming, or Yi Jianlian to sign into the game, but here ar some videos of my “dudes” at Utah St. do it right)

Really Long Link

Really Long Link

Watch those 2 links and tell me your not impressed....


Now onto my Whole Bracket

Ohio St
Ohio St
Nova
Ohio St
West Virgina
Kentucky
Kentucky
Ohio St.
Marquette
Syracuse
Syracuse
Syracuse
Washington
UNC
UNC

Duke
Duke
Michigan
Duke
Arizona
Texas
Texas
SDSU
Cincy
UCONN
UCONN
SDSU
Temple
SDSU
SDSU


Kansas
Kansas
UNLV
Kansas
Richmond
Louisville
Louisville
Kansas
Georgetown
Purdue
Purdue
Notre Dame
Florida St.
Notre Dame
Notre Dame


Pittsburgh
Pitt
Butler
Pitt
Utah St.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Pitt
St. John’s
St. John’s
BYU
Mich St.
Mich St.
Mich St
Florida


My Final Four

Ohio St.
Ohio St.
SDSU
Pitt
Kansas
Pitt
Pitt

There it is folks. I predict that Pitt will be your National Champion.

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A little taste of Chicago...

February 10th 2011 00:32

From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, all was right in the Midwestern city of Chicago. Mayor Daley was in charge of keeping Chicagoans safe, and MJ was in charge of the city’s beloved Chicago Bulls. Daley ran the city up until this upcoming year, while MJ left the Bulls twice, once for a short stint in the MLB, and the other as his official retirement from basketball(I don’t recognize the Wizards years, just because Jordan wasn’t player he used to be.) During his years in Chicago, Jordan became the greatest player ever to pick up a basketball. He brought six titles to Chi-town, and made a baseball town into a basketball city. Ever since Jordan left after the 1998 season, the Bulls had never lived up to the high expectations set by “His Airness”. That was until Derrick Rose came onto the scene as a Chicago high school superstar. After Rose’s freshman year at Memphis, the Bulls had fallen so low that they ended up with the first pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. In Rose’s first year, the Bulls made the playoffs, and fell to the eventual NBA Champions in what was Derrick Rose’s coming out party. Ever since that series, Rose hasn’t looked back. The two biggest knocks on Rose coming out of college was that he couldn’t shoot the three-ball with any consistency, and that he was a liability on the foul line late in games(Everyone remembers the 2008 NCAA Championship game.). These knocks were the things that was holding him back from making the “leap” to the elite level. Rose shot in the mid-20% from beyond the three point line during his first 2 years in a league, not All-Star numbers by any means, and he hit only around 75% from the free throw line.
This season? Rose seems to have made that “leap” to the elite level. Hitting just under 40% from beyond the arc, and just above 80% from the charity stripe. Another thing that Rose is doing this season to make him a bigger star is that he is getting more foul shots this year than he has at any other time during his young career. Also he has the Bulls ahead of the Big Three in Miami, and nipping on the heels of the Boston Celtics. Oh yeah, and he has done all of this without Boozer and Noah together in the lineup for much of the time. Many people believe that the team to beat in East is the Heat or the Celtics, but to me, if Boozer and Noah can get a little more time together on the court before the playoffs, Chicago may make a run at the Larry O’Brien trophy. I know the nucleus of Boozer-Noah-Rose may not be better than Wade-Lebron-Bosh, but they all have their individual roles, and they are all very good at them. Throw in a better surrounding cast, and you can forget about pencilling the Heat in for 7 consecutive NBA Finals because they will have to battle the Bulls every year for a chance to get to the Finals.
Michael Jordan made Chicago into a basketball town, and helped young Chicagoans dream about making it to the NBA, and bringing the hardware back to their hometown. Well, Derrick Rose was one of those kids, and although I don’t think he will every surpass the MJ, but I do think that for every game Rose plays, the shadow MJ cast over the city of Chicago grows a little smaller.

I have two links for you today. One just fits into the article so well I couldn’t just let it pass.
Really Long Link

Really Long Link

Thanks for reading if you guys have any comments, concerns, ideas, objections, or anything else ridiculous that will make people laugh, send it to the The.Lounge.Hulu@gmail.com

Tomorrow on the Lounge, you will get the East/West power rankings because it just took me too long to write this last article.
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Okay so I’m back, and . I told myself that I would start writing again right after New Year’s in order to catalog my favorite team’s, the Philadelphia Eagles, run to the Super Bowl. Well as we all know the Eagles fell to the Green Bay Packers, and I decided to put off my return to the Lounge for a just one month or so longer. Now I’m officially back for good. And my first order of business is to talk about the state of the NBA. Also, I’m throwing a new addition to all off my posts, called Link of the Day. It is pretty self-explanatory for now it is going to come off my stumbleupon.com account, if you guys have any suggestions for this part of the Lounge, just send them to the email at the bottom,and I promise you all that I will put the link up.
First off, anyone who hated on King James for bouncing out on the Cavs, and selling his soul to the devil, aka Pat Riley, please exit stage right because the King still reigns. After watching the Cavs struggle mightily throughout this season, culminating in this current 25 game, and counting, losing streak, you can not tell me that Lebron isn’t one of the greatest players ever to pick up a basketball. In Lebron’s last three season’s in Cleveland, the Cavs lost 72 total games. If the Cavs continue to lose out, (I know it seems impossible, but seriously this team is dismal.) they will end up losing as many games as they did in the last three Lebron years. Now tell me that Lebron James isn’t the most valuable player in the NBA. Take a look at the Cavs roster from last year to this year. There were only two major losses, Lebron and Shaq, from a team that won 61 games last year.(Before I get bombarded for not including Delonte West as a major loss for this Cavs team is because they wanted him gone. He single-handedly ruined their franchise. Think Dan Gilbert hates Lebron, imagine how he feels about Delonte.) This year the team will be lucky to 12 wins. That’s a 49 game difference, I’ll give Shaq about 9 of those wins, and still that number seems absurd.(Couldn’t the Shaq lost also be contributed to the fact that Lebron left? If Lebron stayed, wouldn’t Shaq have returned to Cleveland instead of selling his soul to Doc Rivers?) I KNOW that the voters will probably not vote for Lebron this year because he is surrounded by a lot of talent, and I made the same argument last year against Kobe last year, but for every person that calls themselves a NBA fan, instead of trying to convince yourself that Blake is the second-coming, take a glimpse at your old pal King James. He may be wearing a new jersey in a new city in front of new fans, but the Chosen One has still got some serious game, just watch the Cavs as an example.
(One side note about Blake Griffin, besides the fact that he is a one man highlight reel, just like Lebron. He should not have made the All-Star team ahead of Kevin Love, or LaMarcus Alridge. I don’t care that he can do a 360-degree dunk or that he runs the break like no big men I have ever seen. Kevin Love is the league leader in rebounds, and LaMarcus Aldridge is doing the same thing Blake is doing just a for a team with better record(and I would argue worst talent). Also I don’ think rookies should make the All-Star team. Jordan made it as a rookie, but he was leading his team in 4 major statistical categories, anything short of that, and as rookie, you should headlining the Sophomore/Rookie Challenge, not the All-Star game. I love Blake I think he is going to continue to blossom into a phenomenal player as he career goes on, but it’s too soon to place him into a All-Star especially with the influx of talent the league has seen within the five years or so.)
I don’t know if anyone has heard the rumors of a potential Bynum-Melo swap(with a few added pieces). I don’t know how I feel about this. I just think it is necessary at this point. I know everyone in Lakerland is panicking because the Spurs look so good(and they are.), and because the Lakers don’t seem to be hitting their stride, and people are convinced Kobe has lost step(which he did...about 3 years ago). Kobe is still the best all-around basketball player in the NBA. He can do it all. Although he may have lost a step on his dribble to the basket, he can still beat the bigger defenders off the dribble, and will take a smaller defender down to the block and make him his whipping-boy until the opposing coach makes a change. I still think the Lakers best lineup has Kobe-Odom-Gasol-Bynum on the floor with either Artest-Brown-Fisher-Blake in as the interchangeable fifth guy for whatever the situation allows. Also let’s be honest, the Lakers still have one of the best, if not THE best, coach ever to pick up a clipboard, and as long as the Zen Master is on the bench, the Lakers will pose a threat to anyone in the West, even the high and mighty Spurs.

Link of the Day

Really Long Link


Tomorrow on the Lounge, I’ll address D-Rose, and the Bulls may finally be making MJ a thing of the past in Chitown, East/West power rankings, and a little input on the upcoming Manchester City v. Manchester United.

Thanks for reading if you guys have any comments, concerns, ideas, objections, or anything else ridiculous that will make people laugh, send it to the The.Lounge.Hulu@gmail.com
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A Quick NBA Finals update....

June 7th 2010 19:33
When the Finals started it is well known that I was very indecisive about who was going to win, and after 2 games the only thing that I know for sure about this finals is that the refs are absolutely ruining this series. In Game 1, Ray Allen was forced to sit, and watch as Kobe, and Co. took an early 1-0 lead in this ’08 Finals rematch. In Game 2, Both Kobe and Artest struggled with follow trouble as the refs controlled the flow of the game for most of the night. This series has been ridiculously soft. I expected Rondo to get called for a foul on his late game strip of Kobe. How bout Rondo? The kid is showing why he is one of the most feared matchups in the league. He reached double digits rebounds before points last night. His triple-double wasn’t an example of an absolute dominance on the game, like Lebron, but it showed the multitude of ways in which Rondo can affect the game. Is it out of the realm of possibility for Rondo to get a quadruple-double in his career? You have to think so after last night’s performance. His length makes him super-effective to the point where he can reach in on players without getting his body in the way. The difference between a great NBA player, and a good NBA player comes during “The Leap” game. In this game, Player X drops it on great team Y in big game Z, and captivates a national audience on top of it. Well, Rondo did this, and did it quietly. Only one thing could have overshadowed a triple-double in the Finals, I mean Jesus would have to come back from the dead for the American public not to jump all over Rondo. Well, that’s exactly what happened. Jesus Shuttlesworth(Ray Allen for all of you who haven’t seen He Got Game.) came back to life after a 3-8(0-2 from deep) shooting performance in Game 1. Last night, Ray couldn’t miss from behind the arc, setting a NBA Finals record with 8 made 3s. Ray is arguably the best shooter to lace them up, and last night he showed why. Running off screens like Benny “the Jet” Rodriguez rounds the bases in the Sandlot, Ray made a dizzying amount of 3s, rendering The Zen Masters defense all, but useless.

From a Boston perspective, there was only 1 serious problem with the outcome of Game 2. Kobe, and Odom were all in foul trouble, and played limited minutes compared to Game 1.(Actually Odom was in foul trouble in Game 1, so you might have to be doubly nervous.) If the refs let them play in Boston, it will be much more difficult for the Celtics to pull off a victory, and Paul Pierce’s exclamation that the Celts “aren’t coming back to LA” only fuels the fire. Last time, Pierce ran his mouth prematurely the Magic grabbed 2 wins, and almost forced a Game 7 if Nate Robinson ended his season long vacation prematurely. And that inside dominance that the Celtics fall back on when the run out of gas, well that’s not there. Gasol and Bynum outscored Boston’s big guys by 13 points last night. I know that doesn’t seemed like much, but when 2 starters outscore 4 guys by 13 points, you can’t be in that bad of shape. The only problem for the Lakers is that two of their starters are liabilities, and huge one’s at that. Fisher, and Artest went a combines 3 for 18 last night for a total of 12 points. Combine this with Artest’s crazy mindset, and you have trouble. When the Lakers needed a late 3 pointer last night, Artest dribbled around for about 20 seconds before throwing up a off-balanced one footed three pointer that never had a chance. Kobe finally got the ball, and nailed an easy three, but the damage was done.(This play secretly reminded me of John Maddon’s the Annexation of Puerto Rico from the Little Giants. Yeah, I went there.) You can’t count on Artest in any situation. The man that caused possible the biggest fallout in sports, not including the Steroid Era


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Okay, guys.

I just have 2 things I want to talk about, and no neither of them have to do with instant replay in MLB, or the fact that MLB umps try to show off during games. I’ll touch on that for Monday, but for now, the two things I want to talk about are the Lord Stanley’s Cup(easily the greatest trophy name in any sport. Sorry, Vince.), and the NBA Finals which start tonight


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The NBA Free Agent Summit

June 2nd 2010 03:06
Okay, so Dwayne Wade’s agent was quoted as saying that these conversations that all the top free agents will participate in should not be called a “summit”. Who the hell was calling these talks a “summit” in the first place? NBA free agents don’t participate in “summits”, World leaders do.

But for the sake of the argument let’s gather the top free agents into one absurdly large conference room, and try and predict what will unfold. The top agents are Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, and Lebron James. (Even after Johnson’s stink bomb of a playoffs, we still have to categorize him as a top level free agent because some GM is going to throw huge money at him because they couldn’t get someone else.) So when Lebron walks into the room does Joe Johnson immediately snuggle up to him hoping to get on his good side? Do Wade sit next to Amare, or Bosh? Is Lebron personable, or is he all business after the embarrassment known as the 2010 playoffs


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Well, as I left for on Italy on Wednesday I thought about writing a farewell blog, but I decided against thinking that hell. The Celtics would sweep the Magic, the Lakers would dominate the Suns in rout to the Finals, and well Major League Baseball would be....well, Major League Baseball in late May. I expected a boring sports week that would be forgettable enough that I could sneak away, and not write a post.

Well, I was dead wrong


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Okay. As this Celtics-Magic series approached, I couldn’t help but laugh at all of the newly rejuvenated Celtics “faithful” that were praising his team, and all it will accomplish during the rest of these playoffs. My boy, Wolly, even went as far as claiming a sweep of the Magic followed by a NBA Finals victory that to me, at least, seemed to ludicrous to even be taken seriously. Wolly had been preaching the Celtics superiority even when they were faltering down the stretch so I just took his newfound claims with a grain a salt, and shook them off as child’s play.
(Before we go any further, I still can’t get over how the Celtics front office talked themselves in a bringing Sheed to Boston this offseason. This had to be the professional sports equivalent to Sandra Bullock adopting a baby after Jesse James pulled a Tiger, or the American public silently rallying around the Michael Jackson’s anticipated return to the stage(R.I.P.). How can a team bring in a bad chemistry guy, to a team with supposed chemistry problems, and expect it to be a good fit? He literally didn’t show up for the regular season, and suddenly in this Magic series decides to finally play, even though they really didn’t need him. Now, everyone praises him as such a good pick up for the Celtics. Where was this praise 2 months ago when he was dropping stink bombs, like a 5th grader trying to get out of a school assembly. It was like during the MJ funeral(R.I.P.) when they would pan to the crowd, or to people outside his house, there would hundreds of people crying, and holding signs expressing their love for the deceased pop star. Where the hell was this support when he was going through his dark ages? I’m all for rallying around somebody when they overcome adversity(Tiger I’m still waiting for you.), but to just forget all their past troubles, would be like sending a reformed gambler to Vegas with 10,000 dollars of house money. The end result is good for no one. Sheed may have convinced some midlevel NBA franchise that he could be worth the money for next year, so I’m not gonna try to argue the contrary, but If that team is on the brink of playoff contention at the end of the regular season don’t look to Sheed to be your guy.)
I thought to myself that the Magic would cruise past the Celtics pretty easily if Barnes(the defensive stopper) can blanket Ray Allen, Nelson could at least check Rondo, and Howard didn’t disappear offensively. Well, all of those things didn’t happen, and add in the egg Rashard Lewis has laid in every game this series, and this series has turned into a Boston rout. After watching last night’s game, the NBA should cancel game 4 because the Magic have given up. Just like last year’s Finals, this Magic team has just packed it in, letting the Celtics coast to an easy series victory. (How bout the explosion of Rondo on the scene this year. We were discussing last night where he would stand if he had not signed that extension earlier this year. 5th? Lebron, Wade, Bosh, Amare, then Rondo right? There is no way you rank Joe Johnson in front of him because Rondo hasn’t reached his peak, while Johnson seems to be slowly a little especially after this year’s playoffs. If Dirk opts out though, I might have to move him to 5b, and even then that is a stretch.) So when now know that the Celtics will be playing the the Lakers in the Finals.(No disrespect to the Suns, but you need to play defense to beat the Lakers, and the Suns haven’t played defense since Sir Charles was roaming the paint.) A rematch of the ’08 where Anything became possible(Thank you, Mr. Garnett.), and where Ray Allen/K.G. shook of the title of best active players without a ring. This time around the Celtics are going to be a huge underdog, and with good reason


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The Struggle of the Unstoppable

May 14th 2010 05:18
Okay, guys. I have been waiting about as long as possible before I wrote this next piece, just holding out hope that Lebron would be able to survive his 2nd round battle against the Celtics. Well as I was relegated to following my favorite NBA player since the Answer’s first stint on the 76ers on ESPN Gamecast in the library, I questioned whether I should even watch the game.
In 2001, A.I. led the 76ers to the Finals against the Lakers, (probably the last full season of the NBA I followed before Lebron entered the league) I was so excited because of all the hope I had for my favorite team/player heading into that series. Iverson put up 30 in the first half of Game 1 against the Lakers team that lost a game all playoffs. The Sixers held on to win that game in OT, and I just remember feeling a glimmer of hope that we might be able to beat one of best tandems(Shaq and Kobe averaged 27-15, and 27-5-6, respectively in that playoffs) in its’ prime. That shimmer of hope is kept me tuned into that series as the Lakers found their rhythm, and dispatched of the Sixers in 5 games. Well, as all of my loyal readers know(all 4 of you, including 3 family members), I have been riding this Lebron bandwagon since Day 1, just because of the way he plays the game, the flash, the style, and the relative ease in which he picks a part opponents. I have always defended him against members of Team Kobe(like my friend, skip, from who I received a text message proclaiming Kobe’s superiority within 30 seconds of the final buzzer) saying that Lebron can do it whenever he wants, but what I had come to learn over the past week and a half is that really isn’t true.

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Okay so I feel that every sports writer this side of the Mississippi has commented on the tasing “incident” that occurred during Monday’s Phillies-Cardinals game. People are really divided on this incident, some saying that it was unnecessary, while others(mostly athletes) saying that it was well deserved. I don’t think the kid deserved to be tased because he wasn’t really that big of a threat to any player on the field, but what the hell do you expect? A pat on the back? Those security guards don’t want to be shown up so if they can take you down without having to catch you, they are going to drop you, and no will second guess them. The thing I can’t believe is some asshole pulled the same move the next day. He TWEETED about it before he did. This is the kid I wish got tased, not only because he broke up Cole Hamels rhythm, and cost him a complete game shutout, but because he thought it was actually funny. Bud, I hope this was just a publicity stunt for your floundering DJ career because Steve did this just get onto the field. Next time, you go to a game, stay in your seat because if you did cost Cole that game, I’m sure a few people would have been jumping over your fence for a quick “talk” about your dumb ass antics. So as you see my problem isn’t with 17 year old Steve, but with the DJ, who did it the game after, and almost caused some problems for the Phillies, but I barely heard this mentioned. People like DJ Anonymous give Philly fans a bad name. Before you judge me, I’m not talking about the Philly fans that are so invested in their team that they will do anything to win, or the Philly fans that protect Citizen Bank Park, The Linc, and the Wachovia Center like their own home when other teams’ fans try to come into one of these places, and disgrace it’s sacred powers. (I fall into both of these categories). I’m talking about those fans that do something stupid just to be assholes because they think it is funny. Many people get these two sides confused, and try and mark Philly fans as bad people. Well, guess what? You’re wrong. Just because you could never imagine investing blood, sweat, and tears into a team for decades at a time with very little return on your investment, means that you really don’t love your team. Mr. DJ Anonymous obviously doesn’t fall into this group because no true fan would screw with Cole’s rhythm when he has struggled a little this year. My friends suggested tasing DJ No Thought because Cole gave up consecutive hits following the his stroll on the field. Steve may not have been the true fan I have described in the last paragraph, but he actions didn’t affect the team on the field. Wish I could say the same for our struggling artist, but then again he didn’t get tased.


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