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

Rundown From the Run-down (aka RFTR)

I need sleep. So that means one thing . . . RFTR Time!

• How come I'm just hearing the name "Portland Jailblazers" for the first time when Doug Collins said it during the Miami/Portland game Thursday night? Must have been when i tuned out the NBA while I was in law school. The name is just wrong, but gets points for creativity. The Blazers infamously passed on Michael Jordan and instead drafted Sam Bowie. That's got to be as jail-worthy as anything the players did. Seeing Greg Oden watch the game from a floor seat makes me think they might need to be sentenced again in the near future.
  

• Speaking of sentencing, Barry Bonds makes his first court appearance on Friday. Monday is Michael Vick's sentencing. Barry should be sending Vick a thank you note right about now for the distraction.
  

• "Sources" are reporting that Jason Kidd sat out the New Jersey Nets' game against the New York Knicks to express his displeasure over contract negotiations, not a migraine as he said. Kidd says hogwash. "I would never abuse the game of basketball." Avoiding very obvious (and inappropriate, if you're in the Kidd family) jokes here, all I will say is that I'm glad to hear that.
  

• The Knicks are the most valuable NBA franchise, according to Forbes. This is the 3rd straight year that they have topped the list. And you wonder why James Dolan would rather build a team of good names instead of a team that's really good. They also have the most 1st round draft picks on their roster with 12. No comment. It's too easy.

• The Washington Redskins beat the Chicago Bears last night, in a game they needed if they want any chance of going to the playoffs. After attending their teammate Sean Taylor's funeral on Monday, I can't think of a better way to honor his memory than to come up with a win when it really counts.

• The Dallas Mavericks lost pretty badly to the Denver Nuggets last night. Allen Iverson didn't have 51 like in their loss the night before to the L.A. Lakers, but he did drop in 35. Way to be a team player, AI. And way to provide further proof that the Mavs are going to make the playoffs and that's about it.
  

Happy Friday!!