New Year, Same Run

I heard you can only say happy new year for a week, but I think it's allowed whenever you haven't spoken to someone since last year. So,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Thanks to all who have sent me stories and said they missed me. I missed you, too. Without further ado, let's jump into the first run of the new year:



1. Donovan McNabb can really be a beast sometimes. And sometimes he can really be a fool. I've said before that winning covers up a multitude of sins. For those who didn't see it, near the end of the Philadelphia Eagles win over the New York Giants, a game in which Eli Manning completed his return to earth after last year's Super Bowl win, McNabb ran out of bounds on to the Giants sidelines, picked up the phone customarily used to communicate with the coordinators looking down on the game, and acted like he was making a phone call. That little antic cost his team a 15 yard penalty. And earned him a nice rebuke from former fellow QB Troy Aikman: "Sometimes I just don't know what's going through that guy's head." McNabb acknowledged it wasn't the smartest move after the game, and luckily for him the game was pretty much out of reach. But that's the kind of stuff that makes Iggles fans dislike him. McNabb's a veteran and he knows officials don't put up with any shenanigans. Completely ridiculous, that's all I have to say.

2. So Tim Tebow decided that it's better to play college football than to make millions playing for the Detroit Lions. Even in this economy, he wasn't willing to possibly ruin his career. Smart man.

3. My how the might have fallen. The Boston Celtics went from amazing to awful in the course of a month. Now, they're just happy to get a win over the Toronto Raptors, which is really no win at all. Although the Celts finally snapped their losing streak, Kevin Garnett managed to go an ice cold 3-16. This is a prime example of how the mental side of the game is often more important than being physically talented. This is not a different team from earlier in the season, this is the same team who is now not disturbed by the idea of losing. I'm still not a Celts fan but I'll do just about anything to not have to see the Cleveland Cavaliers coming out of the East. And it's not that I don't like the Cavs (Ok, it's not just that I don't like the Cavs), but I just don't believe they're talented enough to go all the way in the playoffs, despite this recent ride. I just don't see all the tools there that typically comprise championship teams. LeBron James is talented enough for sure, but every superstar needs support to get over the hump. While his guys are playing well now, I have a feeling they'll be playing nearer to their historic averages (read: not quite as hot) come playoff time. We'll just have to wait and see . . .

4. University of North Carolina men's basketball team is 0-2 in ACC play. Maybe now this will end all of that Tyler Hansbrough/Naismith player of the year talk . . . at least for a few weeks. I'll take what I can get.

5. I thought about discussing the other NFL games, but you've probably seen SportsCenter twelve times since then like I have. This is a little video montage passed along by a faithful reader. He likes #3, I'm still blown by #4. Although #3 is kind of hilarious, it doesn't quite count as a MYSM so it's rounding out the top five.




Happy Monday!

Running Through My Mind

A few random musings (I wrote this several days ago and just never got around to posting):

1) NBA firings are apparently at an all-time high for this point in the season. Six coaches have been given their walking papers and we're barely 1/4 into the season. The chopped list includes: Reggie Theus by the Sacramento Kings, Maurice Cheeks by the Philadelphia 76er's, Eddie Jordan by the Washington Wizards, Sam Mitchell by the Toronto Raptors, Randy Wittman by the Minnesota Timberwolves, and P.J. Carlesimo by the Oklahoma City Thunder. I agree with cutting off the head sometimes, but for most of these, I really think they coach was a scapegoat, covering up the real, massive problem: the team sucks. I won't elaborate on which coaches I think needed to go (to protect the innocent) but suffice it to say that this is a short term solution to a problem that goes way deeper than the head coach. Almost all of these teams are underachieving, and one literally just started a few months ago. Is it the economy? Lack of fans? Whatever the reason, firing the coach this early is akin to throwing in the towel for the year, and, frankly, it's just not very creative . . . especially the Kings who waited for five other heads to roll before he got the boot in the back. What followers.

2) Have I ever mentioned how much I love Stephon Marbury? He is the only guy in the league who would buy a front row ticket to a game in which he is being paid to play but the team doesn't want him. Seriously, the only one. Maybe Latrell Sprewell would have pulled such a move back in his day but other than that, I can't think of anyone. I caught his interview at the game, and he did one of my favorites: "me, myself . . ." I never understood what that means, I guess it's sort of like "um" for the urban set. He really keeps things interesting.

3) Allen Iverson was fined for "making inappropriate comments" to a fan during a Detroit Pistons visit to the Charlotte Bobcats, a game which the Pistons eventually won. I wonder if these guys budget for fines and suspensions . . .

4) So the Atlanta Hawks weren't a fluke and really do have something close to a legitimate response to the Boston Celtics. I will admit that the Celtics have really been impressive. I didn't like the idea of throwing a bunch of superstars together just to win a championship, but by golly, it worked. Two stars may not be enough, but three is solid, especially if one of them is a 7 foot shooter. But the Hawks almost beat them and looked good doing it. I'll have to continue to monitor this as the season develops . . .

5) I've been saying this for a long time, and now I'm finally going public with it. Twins?

Stuart from Mad TV:




Tyler from UNC:

Super Tuesday

It's late so I will cut to the chase:

1. The man hasn't even made it out of college and already Darren McFadden not only has one paternity suit pending against him, but also has two more bundles of joy on the way. Oh boy. How can you be the Shawn Kemp of the NFL before you even get picked by a team? Oh boy.
   
2. The Charlotte Bobcats' Gerald Wallace was knocked unconscious by a stray elbow during a game last week. My dad always warned me about concussions. I should probably leave this to the neurologists(!) but I think once you get one, you are more susceptible to continuing to get them. And Wallace has had four concussions in as many seasons with the Bobcats. Sounds more like a football or boxing injury. That's not a good sign. He may really have to pick a different profession if he wants to avoid permanent debilitation.
   
3. Details of the severance agreement with former Indiana University Hoosiers men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson have emerged. Apparently, Sampson has to cooperate with any NCAA investigation and he cannot interfere with the basketball team. How do we know all this? The press has this little pass they call FOIA requests that allows them to obtain info on just about every public contract there is. Powerful little tool, I tell you.
4. Are the Boston Celtics going to be making some roster additions? What, Danny Ainge realized it takes more than three players to win a championship? Having played for a very deep Celtics team back in the '80's, one would think he would have realized this early on.
5. I attended yet another basketball game this evening. This time for my cousin's team. Tough game but they pulled it out when it counted. The other team's fans decided to pick on a shorter player on his team, chanting "Gary Coleman!" I thought this was a fairly mean thing to say (and which may have contributed to their ultimately losing the game), but I did find it quite intriguing that these kids were too young to know him as "Arnold." I'm definitely getting old.
   

Running 'Fore the Weekend

I've seen PTI numerous times but today is the first time I ever noticed that they call their countdown the "rundown" - that's what I get for always trying to multi-task. Rest assured that I thought I was the only one running it down on a daily basis. I see I have company. Good company. Without further ado:

1. They're calling this a blockbuster trade, but I think that's just because it involved so many players. The main points of the trade is that LeBron the Cleveland Cavaliers get Ben Wallace from the Chicago Bulls and supermodelWally Szczerbiak (that's a lot of consonants) from the Seattle Supersonics, and the Cavs sent Drew Gooden and two other players with whom I'm not all that familiar. The Supersonics get Donyell Marshall and two other players whose names you probably wouldn't recognize. Interesting. So I guess this means that the Cavs have finally decided that LeBron will score all the points, since this trade means that the Cavs will be playing 4 on 5 in every game. Not their best work.

2. Some people don't like to eat at other people's houses if they think the house is dirty. Usually this is not a problem, and you can politely decline a meal or two. But when you are there for nearly three weeks, and you bring your own food in the house, at some point the host is bound to get upset. Which brings me to #2: I am thoroughly amused by the fact that China is upset at the U.S. for deciding to bring its own food to the Olympics this summer. Recently, China has had some issues with food quality. Not "oh this meat may have not been refrigerated" issues. More like "oh **** how did that poison get in there" problems. I'd bring my own food, too.

3. The New England Patriots decided not to hit Randy Moss with the franchise tag. This whole concept is funny to me, but I guess this means that he will have some bargaining chips now. You have to wonder about the power of the NFLPA (players association) when "getting slapped with the franchise tag" is a concept that made its way into the collective bargaining agreement. Something seems fundamentally unfair about this given how short their careers can be.

4. The New Jersey Nets' Richard Jefferson is in trouble for allegedly choking a man to unconsciousness who wanted him to leave a private party. Um. I'll just wait for the entire story to emerge.

5. University of Tennessee All-American baller Candace Parker has decided to forego her senior year of college and enter the WNBA draft. Hmm. She would likely be the top pick of the draft, going to the Los Angeles Spark. L.A. = one of top markets = endorsement deals. And Hollywood. Can't forget that. Yeah, this is probably a good move. And she's going to graduate before the draft. I'd call this a good move.

And one for the road: The Boston Celtics dropped another one to Golden State. Just a few hours ago, ESPN said that the Phoenix Suns/Celtics game might be a preview for the NBA Finals. Slow down, boys.

Have a great weekend!

An Apology Is In Order . . .

Today's post is sponsored by the NBA and NCAA basketball. Ok, no not really, but that seems to be most of what's happening in sports these days that's actually related to the game itself. With one off-court tennis story thrown in for good measure:

1. Recently, I sat within a few feet of J.J. Redick who was riding the Orlando Magic pine (i.e., sitting on the bench), and I feel kind of bad because I gloated about his presence. But just now I realized it's not his fault that he was overrated. It must be hard to go from being the premier player at one level to playing garbage time, so J.J., I'm sorry for yelling at you during the game.

2. The Celtics lost to the Denver Nuggets, putting them in the double digit loss column. I just wanted to point that out. Nothing further.

3. Go west, young men. The Jason Kidd trade is complete, with the Dallas Mavericks picking up Devin Harris and a few other players and items added to the shopping cart. I almost forgot he was with the Mavs when he first came into the league, so this is a reunion of sorts. With Shaq set to debut with the Phoenix Suns against the Lakers tomorrow night, this will make for a very interesting western conference battle. It seems like everyone's defecting for the west these days, which just might explain the sagging ticket sales on the opposite shore.

4. It looks like the Indiana Hoosiers are going to have no choice but to fire coach Kelvin Sampson for all of his NCAA recruiting violations. I don't feel too bad for the school because it seems that they knew what they were getting themselves into but went ahead with it anyway. Just another case of reaping what you sow.

5. So after nearly a year and some change of sniffing around, the ATP tour finally found a rat among its ranks. Although other players (almost all of them Italian, "coincidentally" says the ATP) have been fined for betting on tennis matches, they finally found the guy who pulled a Pete Rose and bet on his own games. Only his name is Giorgio Galimberti. Lovely. Like Rose, Galiberti denies ever betting on himself to lose, but that contradicts the ATP's own findings that he bet on himself to lose on at least one occasion. Galimberti is now out of the top 1,000 ranked players in the game, so perhaps he's just desperate for a few more dollars. The ATP isn't throwing the book at them, although perhaps they should if they want to send a message to others. This could be very bad for an already struggling game depending on how high up the rankings this thing really goes . . .

Born To Run

I promise that I will actually write full articles again, someday. Until then:

1. Another young college athlete has died after collapsing during practice. 20-year old Jonathan Mason-Davis collapsed during basketball practice at Ohio University-Chillicothe. And two of his cousins were on the team. Is it just me or is this happening at an alarming rate these days? I can't help but wonder if it has something to do with our health care system, or lack thereof, not catching these things like we should. Whatever the reason, it's troubling and very sad to lose a child this way, so I hope we can study this and find out whether this was preventable. Very sad.

2. Shaq is headed from heat to sun. Yes, it's almost official - Shaquille O'Neal will be traded to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. This would have been #1 but out of respect for the deceased, I dropped it to #2. Marion has been trying to get traded for a while now. Sources say that this deal is a go if Shaq passes his physical. Wow. Now we know that the Suns don't and never have played defense. He would seem to be slowing down the movement of the running Suns. I would say this is as much about ticket sales as it is about fit.

2.5. I forgot about Pau Gasol going to the Lakers which broke over the weekend. This is an almost 19 points a game, 9 rebounds type player who has been averaging those types of numbers for his entire 6-year career. No slouch at all. He looked pretty darn good on Tuesday night althought it was against the not so good New Jersey Nets, scoring 24 points in his debut. This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

3. Roger Clemens testified under oath about his steroid use, or lack thereof. His trainer will also testify and say that Clemens is lying. All I hope is that someone, or both, avoids jail time because we know what happens when you lie under oath.

4. One Patriots player is taking the loss extra hard. Defensive back Willie Andrews was arrested after a traffic stop in which he had weed in his car and apparently didn't have a registered vehicle. I really hope his license plate had fallen off or he just bought the car and didn't have his registration sticker in the window. Because otherwise, why?

5. It's not a good day unless the Celtics lose. This time to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I'm not a huge fan of LeBron James, but we can band in solidarity in our dislike of the Celts overratedness. And again, only 2/3 of the Big 3 are healthy enough to play. Notice the talk of world champs has gone by the wayside now that they are close to double-digit losses. That's what I like to hear.

'Run'ning Out of Gas

No, not Chris Webber. Me. I think I'm coming down with something, probably because I've been running to and fro with little rest. Quickly so I can get some rest:

1. A reader sent me an article discussing allegations involving the Howard University men's soccer coach who was allegedly caught soliciting a 13-year old (undercover officer) on the Internet. I hope this isn't true, but he has been suspended without pay pending the investigation. The coach is in his first year. Not the way you want your tenure to begin.

2. Shout out to the young woman of Asian descent who I saw lugging her hockey equipment through the airport with a woman who appeared to be her mother. Breaking the conventions. You go, girl!

3. The Oregon University AD apologized for how his school's fans booed Kevin Love when he returned there during UCLA's game versus the Ducks. Quack kills.

4. Just to add some perspective to the Boston Celtic's one point escape over the Minnesota Timberwolves, that would have been the Celtic's 8th loss of the season . . . and the T-Wolves 8th win. And the season is almost halfway over. Ick.

5. C Webb, pictured above, is back with the Golden State Warriors, the team who acquired him in a draft day trade with the Orlando Magic in 1993, and traded him to the then-Washington Bullets after a year. C Webb will also be reunited with coach Don Nelson, with whom C Webb did not often see eye to eye. Now that's what I call coming back full circle.

And what I call a great place to end. I'm praying that I'm just tired and not coming down with the flu . . . although that would give me more time to write.

Five But Still Alive

I know I said that there would be something coming by midday Monday, but life happened which made that impossible. And if you are reading this, then you're witnessing dedication at its finest because I am one pillow shy of a passing out. Ahem . . .



1. Federer's 10 years of making it to all of the Grand Slam finals (ok, not that many, but a lot) came to an end when he lost to Novak Djokovic - the eventual winner of the Australian Open. Hey, Tiger loses every now and then. Whether this signals the beginning of the end for Fed, I am not quite ready to predict his demise just yet. At least we know he's really human. When pressed, he admitted that he had a little food poisoning that could have affected his preparation, but he was sure not to blame the loss on that. After that match at the U.S. Open where Pete Sampras puked out his guts courtside from the flu and winning the match in five sets, that excuse isn't really available, so good choice, Fed.



2. After starting 29-3, the Boston Celtics are now 5-5, or pretty average. Their latest loss (I almost wrote "laws" - I need sleep) came at the hands of Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. The game before that, they beat Kevin Garnett's old team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, by 1 point. Of course, KG has been sitting out now (taking turns with Ray Allen) but I still think you're looking at their playoff team. Why? One of these guys is bound to be hurt by then (Allen, most likely), so they better figure out a way to drive the tricycle with at least one flat tire.



3. Come on, boys. Let's raise the level.



4. I read an article in the SportsBusiness Journal discussing the intersection between politics and sports. The article included a pie chart showing the breakdown of Democratic vs. Republican support by executives acrosss several of the major sports (I think hockey was included, too). According to their contribution history, NFL execs are overwhelmingly Republican supporters, and the NBA execs are overwhelmingly Democratic supporters. Does that really surprise anyone? What did surprise me is that 1) a lot of execs support both parties; and 2) our friend and Atlanta Falcons' owner Arthur Blank has given money to both Hillary Clinton'a and Barack Obama's campaign; and one thing that did not surprise me: I don't recognize any of the three execs listed as supporters of John Edwards. That's all I'll say.



5. Back to tennis. Regular people were talking about Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost to Djokovic in the final. it's funny when you have unique knowledge or experience with something the average person does not - i.e., competitive tennis. Whenever something happens in tennis, people ask me questions like I get e-mail updates on every player. (They stopped sending those e-mails years ago.) Unfortunately, I don't know that much about Tsonga nor was I able to see many points of the final, but from what I did see, this kid could definitely be great if he keeps working and getting more consistent. He wiped out Rafael Nadal like Nadal was #200 not #2 in the world. Although, on hard court, that just might be a more accurate ranking for him.

And congrats to Maria Sharapova on winning the Australian Open on the women's side. She played some very tough matches and made them look easy. But it's not.

Yes, I ended on tennis. If you read this far and don't like tennis, pat yourself on the back. And keep living on the edge in 2008. It's good for you.

Foot-In-Mouth Disease As Contagious As The Flu

Three straight days of sleepy, and tomorrow is not looking any better. Without further ado, I bring you the rundown:

1. Apparently another female sportscaster, this time ESPN's Dana Jacobson, landed herself in some hot water over some comments she made during a roast of Mike and Mike hosts (Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic) about Notre Dame (Golic's alma mater and Jesus Christ. It is virtually impossible to find exactly what she said without having been there myself, but apparently the Catholic church knows because they said she's anti-Jesus. Well, I don't know what she said so I can't say much about this. Even though her alleged comments sound inappropriate, I will say that I think women take a lot of flak that men don't for the things that they say. More on that when my eyes aren't shutting.

2. Five overtimes in the Baylor University vs. Texas A&M basketball game on Wednesday night. In one of the OT's the teams only scored 8 points combined. I can't say I have ever heard of 5 OT's before. That's 3 1/4 halves of basketball played. One of them must be regretting that decision to eat that full rack of BBQ ribs before the game. Five players fouled out for Baylor but they still managed to pull out the win against #16 A&M. The game even lost a ref, who went down with a pulled hamstring ($1 to anyone who can locate this video). Great for Baylor. If any team in college basketball could use some good news, it's Baylor. I'm not sure if they have fully recovered from the murder of Patrick Dennehy (I'm sure mention of the murder still makes its way at the end of any big story outside of Texas about the school), but pulling out tough games certainly helps.

3. NCAA crying "foul" for USC's O.J. Mayo taking tickets for a Denver Nuggets game from Carmelo Anthony. Eh. The coach is trying to take the fall, saying he gave Mayo permission after Mayo asked him if it was OK. I know there could be some undue influence if college kids were getting handouts from NBA teams, but I haven't been an NCAA fan before, so I'm not going to start now. Give the kid a break. Smack (on the hand, of course) the coach, though, because he definitely knows better.

4. The Toronto Raptors beat the Boston Celtics, further proving that the Celts are just another team. The stat line shows some pretty good percentages in this game from the floor and behind the arc for the Raptors, who held on for a two-point win, but I am most impressed - of course - with the fact that they went 100% from the free throw line. I can accept a miss or three, but a perfect percentage is . . . something that we shouldn't marvel at that should happen more often. Darn it.

5. Ah, the life of a kicker. Just ask the NY Giants' Lawrence Tynes. If he misses that last field goal (that sent the Giants into the Super Bowl), after missing previous ones, he says he is looking at real estate in Wisconsin. But, he made it, so he's on The Late Show with David Letterman talking about the dress shoes his wife picked out for him. Brett Favre could have thrown 5 interceptions and lost the game on a bonehead play and gotten carried out of Lambeau Field, but if the kicker misses from half a field away (because his offense couldn't get him any closer), he has to move his family to another state. Life's just not fair.

6. Even though I like to do an odd number of rundowns, I couldn't leave without updating you on the Australian Open happenings (I know you read the first five just to get to this point). Maria Sharapova ripped apart Jelena Jankovic, who is shockingly up to #3 in the world. I saw Jankovic at the U.S. Open and she doesn't really have the weapons and is fairly inconsistent, as she proved so aptly in her semifinal against Sharapova. Like I said, Sharapova's pretty much got this one on lock.

7. Splitting up men's and women's tennis gives me a #7. Woohoo. Over on the men's side, Roger Federer dusted off James Blake, per usual, in straight - but well fought - sets. I feel bad for Blake because he really is a good guy and a good player, but Federer is more than a thorn in his side, he's the chloroform cloth to Blake's mouth and nose. He'll get you one day, Federer, one day.

Two Times Not The (Lucky) Charm

Uh oh, are the Washington Wizards the Boston Celtics' kryptonite?

Once may be a fluke, but twice in a row sounds like they have your number. And twice is the number of times that the Wizards have now beaten the Celtics. Unbelievably, the Celtics are 2-3 in their last five games. Not the golden children!! Maybe the luck of the Irish is running out.

More tomorrow on the "slump" . . .

Celts Eaten By 'Cats*

Well here's one that you didn't see coming: The Charlotte Bobcats beat the Boston Celtics.

Apparently none of the photographers at the game saw it coming either because the above photo of the Bobcats' Gerald Wallace taking a charge against the Celtics' Rajon Rondo against is the only photograph that I could find showing a Bobcat in a positive light. Seriously. You should see the ones I didn't post.

The Bobcats are 13-21, not terrible but definitely not good. The Celtics were playing without Ray Allen and Glen "Big Baby" Davis, which is apparently all they need to look average. Not a good sign come playoff time, when Ray Allen (most likely) or one of the other two (KG, Paul Pierce) falls.

And the Celts were at home. Coming off their tight win against the Detroit Pistons (looking much like the Pistons who have lost deep in the playoffs every year starting after 2004) on Saturday night, maybe they just didn't get up for the game. Or maybe they are just overrated . . . Oh well. Can't win 'em all.



And on a sidenote, Isiah Thomas, coach of the New York Knicks (but you knew that), was ejected after arguing with a ref on the floor during the Knicks game (loss) to the Houston Rockets. Some reports say he bumped the official prior to being ejected. Good job, Zeke.



* Am I the only one who is still not used to 'Cats referring to an NBA team?

RFTR* . . . What Number Are We On Now?

Quick rundown from the run-down of the weekend's events since I am trying to get up early tomorrow:

1. The Detroit Pistons laid a turd Saturday night against the Boston Celtics, allowing a bench player and rookie (nicknamed "Big Baby" - accurate, if I do say so myself) to have a career night, taking very bad, ill-advised shots at the end of the game, and my pet peeve - missing free throws! Oh well. It's just one game. At least the Big 3 were kept relatively quiet. And I was not far off in my score prediction, I just didn't think the Pistons would be the ones with 85 points. This will be a very interesting playoff series, for sure.

2. End of the line for the Washington Redskins. Too bad that they couldn't win the wild card game for their fallen teammate, Sean Taylor, but the Seattle Seahawks are just too good.

3. Kudos to the Jacksonville Jaguars for taking out the Pittsburgh Steelers in the other wild card game Saturday night, and coming back for the crazy win. I left the sports bar after the Steelers got behind 28-10 and I thought for sure that was all she wrote. Too bad Maurice Jones-Drew couldn't have big games like that during the regular season! I guess now is a good time, too . . .

4. Did I mention that I am not a fan of Kevin Garnett? Almost as much if not more than I am not a fan of LeBron James. I don't like stars who think they are entitled to calls and who whine if they don't get their way. Put them in the same category as players who seek to draw fouls rather than take shots when the game is on the line. And I believe KG does both. Yuck.

* Short for Rundown from the Run-Down

Celtics v. Pistons, Part Deux

It's not often that an early season game in an 82 game schedule takes on any significance in the NBA these days, but Saturday night's game may just be one of them.

On Saturday night, the Detroit Pistons will host the Boston Celtics in what many are predicting will be a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals, and at the least, will be a great game between two teams with the best records in the league right now.

The Pistons took them out last time these two met a few weeks ago and I am not ashamed to admit that nothing would make me happier than to see the Pistons take them out again. Anything that will slow down untested hype is a positive in my book.

Both teams look pretty good. I had the opportunity to watch a full Celtics game recently and I must admit that they are operating well on all cylinders, outside of just the "Big 3" with good play from Eddie House, Tony Allen and Rajon Rondo. They had a good west coast swing, including a win over the always tough Utah Jazz. The Pistons have also found their offense that seemed to have disappeared earlier in the season a few times, and they are playing consistent basketball again.

If the Pistons lose their offense, I wouldn't expect them to win against the Celtics who have multiple scoring options - at least one of whom typically has a good game - but if they can play like they've been playing as of late, I don't see the Celtics beating them. The Celtics have more to gain by winning this game, since the Pistons have already proven that they are capable.

My prediction: Pistons 89, Celtics 85

Rundown from the Run-Down - 2008

Happy 2008!!

Pleats 'n Cleats took a much needed vacation, and I could still use another one. I will be back in the full swing of things next week but instead of leaving you for a full two weeks, I thought I'd give you the first rundown from the run down for 2008.

So without further ado:

1. So the Boston Celtics went 4-0 on their west coast trip. Yeah, yeah. Whoop-dee-do. They also lost to the Detroit Pistons - placing them second in ESPN's power rankings for the week. Get back to me come playoff time.

2. The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Celtics on Sunday, in a game featuring a montage of the storied Lakers-Celtics rivalry and in which the Lakers donned short shorts in true throwback fashion. Said Kobe Bryant:

"I don't know what it feels like to wear a thong, but I imagine it feels something like what we had on in the first half," he said with a grin. "I felt violated. I felt naked. It's one thing to see films with guys wearing those things. ... I'd rather stay warm, man."

Um. I believe you, Kobe.

3. By now you are fully aware that the New England Patriots went 16-0. Their final game against the New York Giants was kind of close but not they-might-not-make-it close. Pretty anticlimactic if you ask me. Way to go, Pats.

4. The Georgia Bulldogs put a beating on the Hawaii Warriors football team in Tuesday night's Sugar Bowl, 41-10. It was sad hearing the commentators say they had no business being in the bowl game, but it was even sadder to see all the fans who traveled from Hawaii and got all dressed up just to see their team score when the game was pretty much over. But they still get to go back to school in Hawaii. Don't feel too bad.

Shut It DOWN!

Yes!! Finally!!

One post only tonight since I'm heading out of town tomorrow (again). I may post during the day tomorrow, though, so stay tuned. Or peruse my archives for any posts you've missed (I'm most proud of my Vick, tennis, and Knicks trial coverage, if I do say so myself).

But tonight's post is a happy occasion. Perhaps the happiest I have ever felt while posting. I'm happy because the Boston Celtics lost Wednesday night, and lost at home.

Not because they lost for just the third time this season but because they lost to an Eastern Conference powerhouse - the Detroit Pistons - that exposes how overrated they really are. Sure the Celtics made some errors here and there (including Tony Allen falling for the pump fake by Chauncey Billups), and Doc Rivers made a few coaching blunders (i.e., putting Allen in the game at all), but this is what the game is all about. No one really cares about what happened. It's all about who comes away with the W.

It was a tight game, but the Pistons prevailed in the end by 2 after Billups scored the game-winning free throws. Pistons coach Flip Saunders said that no one will remember this game next week, but this one game says a lot about the Celtics. This one game has the potential to dampen the noise from the Celtics bandwagon. It shows that they may be good but if they want to get out of the East, much less win a 'ship, then they have some work to do. The rest of December we'll get to see them play some pretty good competition so we should get a decent picture of what they are going to do.

Better luck next time, Big 3.

Three For The Hump: Pettrino, Perkins, and Pooh Bear Shot

Time is a hot commodity these days. The truth is I could have time if I wasn't so bad at time management. I can't work all the time!

I digress. A few interesting stories today. I'm only posting once because I need sleep before I trek to the beach Thursday night. I know. Rough life. That means Pleats 'n Cleats last post will be tomorrow night.

First item of interest, the poor Atlanta Falcons just cannot catch a break. No sooner did they learn that they lost their meal ticket superstar Michael Vick than they also lost their coach. Bobby Petrino jumped ship, effective immediately, to take the vacant coaching job with the Arkansas Razorbacks football team. His move was a shock to many it seems, as he'd only been there for a whole 13 games, and he's returning from whence he came - the college ranks. A whole lot of others are just feeling let down. I guess he figured that the team wasn't going to get any better in the next two years without Vick.

Making matters worse, Falcons owner Arthur Blank said that Pettrino had reassured him as late as Monday afternoon that he was going to stick with the team through 2008. Yes, Blank, Tuesday could be worse than Monday. But maybe this was a blessing in disguise, as one source called him "one of the worst communicators in pro sports." Well, he didn't tell anyone about this move, so I'd have to agree with that assessment. Plus, the players didn't really like him, either. It seems he was more of a dictator, which can work on the college level, but he didn't really know how to relate to guys to whom he couldn't talk down. Apparently no one told him that that strategy doesn't work in the NFL, so it's easy to see why he wasn't popular with the players.


Second item: Bostons Celtics center Kendrick Perkins hurt his big toe when his bed allegedly fell on it, which will likely cause him to miss a game, and cause Boston to add a new person to the starting line up for the first time all season. As much hype as the Big 3 have received (I did see a sort-of funny ESPN commercial with them today, though), I don't think anyone cares who they rotate into the top 5 unless this person is, say, Larry Bird. Perkins explanation for the accident:

"Man, that's a weird story," Perkins said after practice Tuesday. "I was asleep. I guess whoever put my bed together didn't put it together right when I moved, so one side of my bed fell. My bed was tilted, so I got out of my bed to go push down on the other side.

"And when I was about getting ready to push down on the other side, the headboard started coming in. So I tried to push the headboard back so it wouldn't fall over. My foot was under the bed and the other side of the bed fell on my foot.''

Yeah. I don't know, this sound pretty fishy. I tried to follow along with his explanation and had some trouble. If his bed was poorly put together, someone please get the man some better help. Playing with the Big 3 ought to give him top of the line assemblers, if nothing else. This has to be one of the sorriest reasons I've ever heard for missing a game, somewhere ahead of not feeling like showing up.



Finally, as reported on ESPN (so I'll tentatively give it a "sports" label pro hac vice ) Davy Crockett's great - great - great - great - great - great - great - great - great - great - grandson (did someone check this?), five-year old Tre Merritt, killed a 400+ lb. bear, just like Davy did when he was allegedly three years old. When I saw this, I thought this meant Tre killed him with his bare hands - no pun intended. Well, it turns out that Tre shot him.

What the heck is a five year old doing with a gun? In the story it's called a "youth rifle." Tre has been shooting since the age of 2, and according to dear old "paw-paw," who shed a tear upon the realization that Tre had killed a bear, Tre killed three deer last year.

Well, this just warms the heart. Of course, this happened in a rural area as you all imagined, but who is selling youth rifles, and why is it OK for people to buy these for toddlers? It seems like dad should be arrested. If the bullet could kill a 400 lb. bear, then it could definitely kill a human being - unless, the bullet had some kind of bear kryptonite that doesn't affect humans. . . . And Michael Vick gets 23 months for killing dogs, but a kid kills a bear and poses with it, and that's A-OK. Got it.

Maybe it is illegal for kids his age to use guns, and Tre just got "grandfathered" in. HA. Where's my drum beat when I need it?

P.S. Toronto Raptors' guard T.J. Ford was hurt following a hard foul by Al Horford in the Raptors win over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. Ford's head hit the ground very hard when Horford hooked him in the face (he says it was an accident, but was ejected from the game anyway). Ford looked to be in immense pain when they him off the court in a stretcher. There are reports that he has movement in his limbs, so that's a good sign. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Barkley: Thomas is "As Safe As Me In A Room Full of Cookies"

Isiah Thomas will probably be out of a job by the weekend. Tonight on TNT's broadcast of the New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics, Ernie Johnson asked Charles Barkley whether he thought Thomas' job was safe. After some hemming and hawing, Barkley finally answered:

"He's about as safe as me in a roomful of cookies."

In other words, not safe at all. (If you are looking for a great sound byte on a topic, Barkley never fails to disappoint.)

Forget the rumors and conjecture. I watched their "game" - if you can call it that - Thursday night against the Boston Celtics. Granted, I caught the second half, but I saw more than I needed to come to the conclusion that this team with Zeke is hopeless.

At halftime, they were down by 23, but they managed to score 28 points in the entire second half - that's for the entire team, not one player. In fact, only one player - Nate Robinson - scored in double digits (more on that later). The field goals made vs. missed for the starters looked more like dates at the beginning of the year: 1-10, 2-4, 2-11, 3-12, 4-8. Not going to get too far with that one.

By the start of the 4th quarter, the score was 41 to 82, after the Knicks scored a whopping 10 points in the 3rd quarter. Bostons starters sat out almost the entire second half. In the waning seconds of the 4th quarter, the Knicks somehow managed to get up to 56 in mostly garbage time since they were down 40 throughout the quarter, and were on track to set a record for the least amount of points in Knicks history (58). Then, with two seconds left on the clock, Robinson launched a shot from just inside half court that sank at the buzzer, giving them their final total of 59 points. And this was the shot that made him the only double digits scorer for the Knicks and saved the team from an otherwise record-setting loss - a record no one wants to have.

No doubt, though, that the game was still historic because it was probably one of the saddest displays of basketball that I have ever seen in the NBA. This looked like the early non-conference college basketball games between a Division I powerhouse and a Division II weakling. But as well as the Celtics played (they destroyed them in the lane, on both ends of the floor), the Knicks didn't even look like they were trying. They literally just quit playing. If you saw the game, then you know what I'm talking about. You could see it in their faces. Some guys were shaking their heads on the bench at the spectacle, but most of them just seemed to be saying "who cares?"

Not surprisingly, Zeke's face was actually the saddest throughout the game. He looked completely lost in thought with his eyes glazed over, alternately smirking or smiling, watching his team (and thus his position with the Knicks) go up in flames. His players seemed more smug because they feel certain that they aren't going anywhere, knowing their coach will likely take the fall for this one.

After the game, when Zeke was asked whether he was embarrassed, he responded "we're all embarrassed." Marbury and They may all be embarrassed, but only one of them is likely going anywhere.

When Kevin Garnett was asked after the game what he thought of the Knicks effort, he said that he had played with Stephon Marbury and this did not look like the same Marbury that he knew then. When asked if he thought they had quit, he suggested that guys don't just quit, something has to make them quit.

Hmm. Now what kind of "something" could he be talking about? The end result is that the team just up and quits on Zeke, which, if it continues in their game tomorrow, will in essence force the owners to fire him. In the process, the team embarrassed themselves and their city by putting forth no effort, and making Zeke look like a fool.

The truth is that this team without Zeke may be just as bad as they were with him. If whoever comes in next is able to right this ship, I will be shocked. Larry Brown couldn't do it, Zeke couldn't do it. Maybe the solution calls for something more drastic . . .

like disbanding the Knicks and sending their players to other teams. Just a thought.

Rundown from the Run-Down

I've been a little under the weather, so here's a snippet of today's stories:

• The Cleveland Cavaliers handed the Boston Celtics their second loss of the season. The only two free throws that Ray Allen (88% FT shooter) missed came when the Celts were in a position to seal the game. LeBron James and Kevin Garnett exchanged some words near the end. You mean everyone doesn't love LeBron?

• Michael Vick is set to stand trial in April on state charges for dogfighting. A plea deal is expected to be reached, so no April circus. 12 more days until we find out how long he'll be in jail on the federal charges.
• Race car driver Helio Castroneves beat out Mel "Scary Spice" Brown for the Dancing with the Stars title. Floyd Mayweather was scheduled to dance during the finale but pulled out due to an anke injury. Right. He's just trying to get ready for that fight he joined the show to promote. December 8th. Pay-per-view. (Yes, the advertising did work.)

R.I.P. Sean Taylor.

Celtics Lose :-(

. . . But Mickey wins.

Well, I hate to say I told you so (seriously, I do), so I won't, but just moments ago, the Boston Celtics dropped their first game of the season to a team that can actually play - the Orlando Magic.

Now, I won't get carried away since it was just one loss, but it was a loss to a strong team, a team that is now 9-2 to the Celtics 8-1, but you probably haven't heard too much about that from the media. Luckily, ESPN.com and NBA.com (among others) post the other teams' standings so us regular folk can know what other teams not getting media attention are doing.

The Celts were actually down by 19 at the start of the second half and came back in the second, but they came up short. They've had a few of these late rallies, but I guess that streak ended along with their perfect record. Ray Allen was 7-13 (2-8 from 3-point line), Kevin Garnett (aka "KG"), 7-17, and Paul Pierce, 10-17. All 5 starters had 3 turnovers apiece. Most of these seemingly came in the 4th quarter.

In the 4th quarter, Allen scored 11 of his 19. The other 2/3 of the Big 3 disappeared, with KG scoring only 2 points and Pierce scoring 4. KG had a good look at a 3-pointer but he missed that, too.

This is on the heels of ESPN's NBA page headline about top 3-somes in the league, with the feature photo depicting you know who. Actually, writer Marc Stein has them as the third best trio behind trios from the Spurs and the Suns, so I'll give him his propers for attempting to preserve the integrity of ESPN.

What does this loss say, if anything, about the Celtics and their chances of winning the NBA championship, the Eastern Conference Finals, their next game, the lotto . . . whatever else the media is saying they're going to win.

Boston Celtics: The Definition of Overrated

(WARNING: This post is long, but nothing compared to the ink that has been given to the other side of this fairy tale.)

I cannot tell you how sick and tired I am of hearing about how great the Boston Celtics are. When Bill Walton (an ex-Celtic) joked (I hope) about them going 82-0 during Wednesday night's NBA telecast, I almost e-mailed ESPN.

Before I begin, I must admit that I have never been much of a Celtics fan. It might have something to do with their location in Boston. Nothing wrong with Boston itself, but the people there are as racist as in any southern town that people think has more racism. I remember one particular visit when I was about 8 years old. While I waited in the airport for a relative to arrive, I heard two white males letting the n-word fly fast and free when referring to an African-American member of the Boston Celtics at the time. At the time, the Celtics had one of the "whitest" teams in the NBA, which was pretty much their hallmark, especially in the '80's. I was fairly young but I knew enough to be appalled by what I heard.

Then, in college, when I heard about them hanging monkey in bars in "honor" of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I knew I had had enough of Boston.

Boston's race issues are well documented, from the days when Bill Russell brought them 11 NBA titles, and there is at least one book written on the topic. Even this website that says the Celtics' racism is a myth is forced to acknowledge:

Certainly, there was--and still is, sad to say--rampant racism in Boston. When Bill Russell was helping the Celtics win unprecedented numbers of championship banners as a player and a coach, some ignorant fools--including alleged Celtics fans--called him names I won't repeat here. You've probably heard them in some context or another, and all of them were used at some point.

And that's from a writer who said it was a myth. Not only that, but the Boston press virtually ignored Russell, and he got nowhere near the attention that Larry Bird and the boys received in the '80's.

Now we come back full circle to the modern day Celtics, who are not only leading the team but are being celebrated for doing so. There's irony for you.

The hype around this team is almost deafening. People are saying they're going to go to Eastern Conference Finals, or win an NBA championship. Is that so?

And this was before the season started. Now that they're 7 games in to an 82 game season, and they've played against 6 teams (one team twice), they're the champs? Let's look at who these 7 wins have come against:

Washington, Toronto, Denver, Atlanta, New Jersey, Indiana, New Jersey again.

Of those teams, only Denver has a winning record. Two of those teams - Washington and Miami - are off to a downright atrocious start.

Their games for the rest of the month of November include Miami (1-7), Orlando (7-2), Golden State (0-6), Lakers (4-3), Charlotte (4-4), Cleveland (4-5), New York (2-5), and Miami again.

So after facing 6 teams, only one of which has a winning record, and with a pretty weak schedule for the rest of this month, we're supposed to believe that this team could . . . go . . . all . . . the . . . way?

Well, I'm sorry, I just can't get down with that. Not only are they less than 10% of the way done with the season, but they haven't even played 80% of the other teams in the league. They haven't won any championships. They haven't even been to the playoffs yet.

Individually, the so-called Big 3 have pretty weak playoff histories. To wit:

• This is Ray Allen's 11th year in the league, and he has been to the playoffs 4 times, 3 with the Milwaukee Bucks, one with Seattle Supersonics. The furthest he made it was one trip with the Bucks to the conference finals 7 years ago, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers

• Celtics Captain Paul Pierce has been in the league 9 years, been to the playoffs 4 times, all with the Celts, and made it to the conference finals in 2002, losing to the New Jersey Nets.
  

• Kevin Garnett is in his 12th year in the league, and he's been to the playoffs 8 of those years with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where they lost in the first round every year except in 2004 - their last playoff appearance - when they fell to the L.A. Lakers in the conference finals.
  

So, we have none of the Big 3 who has even been to a) the conference finals or b) the playoffs within the last three years. Not to mention that there are, like, 11 other people on the team, two of which also need to contribute to the team at all times. The playoffs have as much to do with endurance as they do with talent. You must have a solid bench or you can hang up your chances of winning any kind of ring.

Now, they do have some talent in Eddie House and Rajan Rando. And all it takes is one time to win a championship, no previous ones required. Got it.

But they haven't won anything, may not have the tools to compete deep in the playoffs, haven't played any of the real contenders, and most of the teams they have played and will play this month have at or below .500 (50% wins) records.

What if the Celtics are just last year's #1 seed Western Conference Dallas Mavericks, who performed well in the regular season only to lose to a team like the #8 seed Golden State in the first round of the playoffs?

This is not to say that the Celtics won't make it deep through the playoffs, but I think it is entirely too early to start prognosticating like we have any idea at what level this team is capable of performing. They haven't even really been tested like that. Anyone saying that they're going to "take the East," and how great a feat 7-0 is for this team is only further contributing to rating the Celtics higher than they deserve to be rated, which would make them - you guessed it - overrated.

With Kobe-watch fading out of style, I'm sure the NBA wants a story and they chose this one, but let's wait until they actually show us what they've got.

All this bandwagon jumping is getting sickening.