Hi I'm Cleet and I'm a New York Mets fan. Yes I am aware that the above picture is how it is always going to be. I'd still rather live with this kind of crap than cheer for the Yankees.
Speaking of the Subway Series, no name Yankee reliever who is still on the DL called out K-Rod for celebrating too much after a win. Rodriguez confronted said reliever before the game yesterday because he is acutally a man and is nt afraid to talk face to face. Or maybe he just wanted to show this guy his ring. Video below. [MLB.com]
Speaking of rings, Phil Jackson now has more than Red, Kobe has one without Shaq, and yes Bobcats fans, Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown have one! [Yahoo Sports]
Speaking of semi-anonymous people getting rings, the Pens pulled the game 7 upset on the Wings on Friday. Marian Hossa is taking the heat, but he says "that's life." How profound [NHL.com]
Speaking of tough breaks, Jim Calhoun breaks his ribs but finishes bike race. He then did interviews, passed out and only went to the hospital at the behest of Ray Allen. [Hartford Courant]
Speaking of college basketball news, today is the deadline for players to withdraw from the NBA draft. Players like Luke Harangody have to make a difficult choice. [Sporting News]
Speaking of college athletes not everyone pays attention to, the IRA regatta to decide the men's rowing national champions took place last weekend (sorry forgot to post) with Washington taking the men's eight title. With that and the news about Nick Montana, the Husky faithful must be pretty content right now. [Row2k]
On a last note, I saw The Hangover this weekend. While I do think it was funny, I thought it went begging in several areas and would not put it in the upper echelon of epic raunchy comedies. I think it belongs in the second tier with movies like Road Trip, Euro Trip, and PCU but falls short of Animal House, Revenge of the Nerds, or Wedding Crashers territory.
Monday, June 15
Weekend Recap
Tuesday, May 26
WWE And Vince Give Epic Fail Performance
After going to a bar with K-man, XM, and Catfish to watch the last WWE PPV, 'Judgement Day' I wrote in my little daily milieu, the random thought/quote/fact of the day, that I was done with pro wrestling. Sure I was a fan of the Attitude Era, who wasn't, but the storylines are not well-executed, the action in the ring is horrible when it comes to the big names, and the characters are stale. Oh, and in my opinion John Cena can not even sniff Stone Cold and The Rock's jockstrap.
The events of the past week though pulled me back in as I had to tune into see what Vince was going to cook up after moving Monday Night Raw to the Staples Center in L.A. after being double booked with the Nuggets' hosting of game 4. Vince talked a big game, insulting E. Stan Kroenke and putting up a 5 vs. 5 tag match as the man event with a Lakers versus Nuggets team and a mystery 5th man for the Lakers' team. I was excited to see how the WWE would incorporate this during the entire night since they had done such a great job setting it up all week.
In the end it was a tremendous letdown. Vince came out to confront a fake, dressed-up Stan Kroenke and revealed the E in his name stood for "Enis" and then let the crowd participate in the dickjoke connection of the name. Of course, it made me think of former Penn State draft bust Curtis Enis. Then Vince merely pushed the fake Kroenke down and his music played. No stunner? Not even a DDT? Lame.
Then we had this abomination of impersonators ring side:
That is supposed to be from left to right: Lakers' owner Jerry Buss, Jack Nicholson, and NBA Commissioner David Stern. First off, the fake Buss looks like a woman in a red wig. Is it really that hard to find a good Jack impersonator in LA? He had a speaking part backstage and sounded nothing like the real thing. The Jack Nicholson voice is an easy one to imitate, and every white man can do a halfway decent one. It is a few steps down from being as universal to an Arnold voice. The one that makes me shake my head is the David Stern "look-a-like" and by look-a-like I mean looks not a damn bit like David Stern. This is David Stern:
They got old white guy and glasses part right and that is pretty much it. You might say that most wrestling fans would not know the difference but this edition of RAW was supposed to bring in the casual viewers and gain new followers. It instead showed why wrestling, while popular, is not as big as it was and continues to shrink as MMA expands.
The final straw was the mystery tag-team partner. It was some guy named 'Mr. Kennedy' who I had never heard of but apparently has been gone for awhile with injury. Another fail, this was a time for a celebrity, someone tied to basketball, The Rock since this was in Hollywood (I can dream can't I?), or some other long lost wrestler not seen in a long time. I refuse to waste my time with it anymore (even for Kelly Kelly), although game 4 over on TWWL was almost as unwatchable with the constant whistles, 84 free-throws and technical fouls.
Monday, May 11
Flagrant Fouls Prove NBA Cares... About Image
Ron Artest's foul on Pau Gasol was reduced from a Flagrant-2 foul to a Flagrant-1 after review by the NBA's VP of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson. The initial call of Flagrant-2 would not, in my opinion, have been made if the game had been closer, but with an eight point lead in the final minute, the refs and league wanted to make certain things didn't get uglier. If the league were to downgrade the foul to just a foul, they would be saying the refs were completely out of line in ejecting Artest and they don't want their officials feeling threatened.
It's the same reason why the league saw fit to consider Rondo's face grab on Brad Miller "incidental." The refs decided not to call a flagrant, as that would've allowed someone else to step in for Miller at the free throw line. Had the NBA upgraded the foul, the league would've acknowledged that the Bulls should've had that option as a woozy Brad Miller stopped the bleeding. When Miller missed a free throw, any chance of the foul being upgraded disappeared as well. The NBA is so paranoid about the perception that the refs influence the outcome of a game (thanks Timmy) that they're painting themselves in a corner where the rulings seem more on par with the officiating of professional wrestling.
It's this image-first mentality that has everyone wondering what constitutes a flagrant foul. Rajon Rondo isn't facing a suspension with another Flagrant-1 as he should be, but Ron Artest has been ejected twice. Once for being upset that at Kobe Bryant's Flagrant-1 (determined after review) against him (while the officials on the floor called a foul on him) and for committing a Flagrant-1 (after review). The NBA needs to look at these plays in a bubble, with no regard for the outcome or situation, because it's clear that they're overly conscious of protecting their officials and not making a change to a call that might have had an influence on the outcome of the game. As long as they judge fouls based on these external factors it will continue to hurt the product on the court and frustrate, coaches, players and fans alike.
Friday, May 8
Roshambo: or Why the Lakers are in Trouble
Earlier this week, I asked who would step up to protect the stars on the Lakers. After game 2, my Derek Fisher guess assessment proved to be correct, although wondering if Fish had it in him proved fallacious. The bad news for the Laker faithful is this is only the 2nd round of the playoffs and Fish has already used one of his bullets, meaning he has maybe one more if and only if the team makes the NBA Finals. Fish's crosscheck of Louis Scola was not only intended to send a message to the Rockets, but also to his big men. It's virtually impossible for a guard to be an enforcer. Guards are like scissors in rock-paper-scissors, they cut through paper (officials) often earning fouls on others that they haven't deserved and big men are like rocks, they can crush guards (particularly in the message-sending department) and are often vulnerable to ticky-tack calls by paper--think Andrew Bynum. For a pair of scissors to even get noticed by a rock they have to hurl themselves in a conspicuous manner that cannot be ignored. Now that Fish is on the collective radar, it will be difficult for him to "protect" Kobe and Lamar(?) without earning, at minimum, an ejection. With plenty of games left, someone else needs to step up, because the physical play will only intensify through the remainder of this series and beyond. As it stands, I'm not sure if any of the Lakers' "rocks" are willing to throw.
Wednesday, April 29
Sometimes You Forget: Kareem's Goggles
Yesterday as I was running errands I came across a man crossing the street to get to the grocery store. He was wearing a suit and sunglasses, not an unusual combination but upon another cusory glance I saw he was wearing croakies. Really dude? I am by no means a connoisseur of fashion, but what is the purpose of croakies while wearing a suit? They are not even your actual glasses, they are just sunglasses. Totally acceptable on the beach, can let it slide if your rocking them on the court or field, but cannot see a reason why you would need them while wearing a suit. You have such an action packed day at the office, your sunglasses might fly off during a barrel roll? You sir, are living the high life.
While ruminating about said douche in the suit, I suddenly thought about Kareem. But Kareem really didn't rock the glasses per se, but he had the big purple croakie for a time on the back of the goggles. Jabbar is the all-time leading scorer in the NBA, has six rings, six MVPs, two finals MVPs, 19 All-star selections, and is 3rd all-time in blocks even though they were not recognized as a stat until his 4th year in the league. As XM would say, "he was good." [Update via The Love of Sports, Kareem is trying to trademark the term "sky hook". Had no idea about it when writing the post, interesting.] 
Ha, look at Danny Ainge in that picture, but seriously get well Danny. The thought of Kareem in the goggles made me think about his role in Airplane! where he plays the pilot Roger Murdoc. When he passes out and they remove him from the co-pilot chair he has the Laker gear on as well as the goggles. Of course, his shining moment from that film was this scene here:
I've seen plenty of gladiator movies in my day but I've never been in a Turkish prison. Of course, we cannot let a post about goggles go on without this classic.
Please promote appropriate croakie use in your community.
Wednesday, January 28
The Charlotte Bobcats Own the Staples Center
That's right, the Charlotte Bobcats defeated the Lakers 117-110 in double overtime last night in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It was the third straight win for the Cats in the Staples Center and 5th win in the last 6 against the Lakers. LA had won 14 of their last 17 and owned an NBA best record at 35-8 but great performances all around were enought to outlast the best team in the west even after they let a lead slip away in regulation. Raymond Felton was one assist shy of a triple-double , and Boris Diaw was one rebound and assist away from one as well. Emeka Okafor had 18 and 11 including 6-7 from the line.
Kobe Bryant finished with 38 points but fouled out in the first overtime. Pau Gasol shot just 4-16 from the field. The Lakers' furious 4th quarter comeback was aided by poor free-throw shooting from Charlotte and the Lake Show took a 6 point lead in the first OT. The Bobcats battled back however and now improve to 12-10 since they traded away Jason Richardson for Diaw and Raja Bell. "That was a heck of a win; it was a heck of a performance," coach Larry Brown said of his Charlotte team. The Bobcats get no rest as they must turn around and play at Portland tonight.
Another point of concern was a flagrant foul by Andrew Bynum on Gerald Wallace with a minute to go in the fourth quarter that sent Wallace to the floor.
Wallace was down for minutes and walked very slowly to the locker room. The early indication is that Wallace suffered a collapsed lung. It would be a huge hit to the Bobcats momentum to lose Wallace for any amount of time but it does not take the shine off a gutty performance and a great win.
Tuesday, January 27
NBA's Best Defenses and Where the Cats Fit In
In a recent NBA.com article, they took a look at the top defenses in the league. Not surprisingly, the likes of Boston, Cleveland, Orlando made the list, but also a slight surprise the Lakers were included. It's not a shock that the hometown Cats were not included, but just how do the Cats stack up? I can't go any further without acknowledging the help of Brett from Queen City Hoops and the Team Rankings.com staff for all of their assistance in compiling the numbers. Now, on with the show.The top five teams were compared in eight defensive categories: Defensive rating, Pace, Defensive Rebound Rate, Opponents Turnover Rate, Opponents Paint %, Opponents Fast Break %, Opponents Free Throw Attempts per Possession, and finally Blocks per possession.
1. Boston
2. Cleveland
3. Orlando
4. Houston
5. LA Lakers
When comparing teams, it's only between these five teams and the Cats, unless otherwise noted.
Defensive Rating - It appears that the primary (only?) determinant in the NBA.com rankings was the Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions). According to defensive rating, Charlotte finishes just outside of the top five at seventh in the league, allowing 102.1 points per 100 possessions (1.021 per possession). This puts them in elite company, trailing only these five teams and San Antonio in this regard, and puts them fourth in the Eastern Conference. Given the amount of flux on the roster this season, Coach Brown's focus on defense already shows signs of paying off. Their 106.5 rating of a year ago would put them 26th in the league today.
Pace - (Possessions per Game) Not surprisingly, three of the top defensive teams play at a slower pace. Only the Lakers and Magic rank in the top half (7 and 13) of teams in the league and the Cavs and the Rockets are both in the bottom third (25 and 21). The Bobcats are even lower at 27th (91.5 pace), but they've improved from the start of the season when they were last for the first couple months. The Cats slower pace hasn't hindered their ability to keep up, however, in many of the other statistical categories.
Defensive Rebounding Rate - (Percentage of available defensive rebounds attained ) This is one area where the Bobcats lag behind, but not surprising when considering the front lines that these teams have grabbing boards for them. The Celtics (76.4%) and Rockets (75.2) are two and three in the league, and the Lakers are the only team out of the top half, barely at 16th. The Cats are 21st in the league, grabbing 72.3% of available rebounds, but given their relative lack of height (and complete absence of a power forward to start the year), teams have been often more willing to crash the boards against the Cats.
Opponents Turnover Rate - (Opponents' turnovers per 100 possessions ) Just as defensive rebounding has been a weakness, this has been a strength for the Cats. They're 9th in the league (13.9), and trail only the Celtics (14.4) and Cavs (14.3) amongst the leaders. The Cats do a markedly better job than Oralndo and Houston, who are both in the bottom five in the league. With the addition of Raja Bell and Coach Brown allowing Gerald Wallace to take more chances on the defensive end, the Cats number could even increase.
Opponents Paint % - (Percentage of opponents' points scored in the paint) Boston (36.7%) and Orlando (37.7%) are head and shoulders above the other teams in this regard, and thanks in no small part to the presence of Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard. The Cats are currently 4th (39.5%) trailing Cleveland by mere percentage points and well ahead of LA (40.7%) and Houston (41.9%). One thing that this stat doesn't tell, though, is the percentage of opponents inside shots. The Cats and Cavs opponents have shot 35% of their attempts from close range, compared to only 31% for the Magic. With that said, Charlotte, Cleveland and Orlando are all in the top 3 defensive FG% for shots in the paint, two of the teams just happen to be doing it against more shots.
Opponents Fast Break % - (Percentage of opponents' points scored on the break)Another area the Cats have excelled at this season, is not giving up easy buckets. They're second to only Boston (11.17%) at 11.24%. Perhaps the most impressive of the bunch, LA allows 11.4% of fast break buckets, but given their much higher pace could be argued to be more impressive.
Opponents Free Throw Attempts per Possession - Houston, LA, and Orlando (.207, .207, .215) are all ranked in the top ten, with Cleveland 17th (.238), the Cats at 18th (.238) and Boston at 26th (.254). If I was a homer, I'd point to flex in the roster and having a rookie playing substantial minutes, but the team has had far too many facepalm fouls from veterans and rookies alike. Also, with the team trailing late as opposed to many of these teams up late, the Cats find their rate higher than most. If anything stand out, it's Boston's 26th ranking. Not exactly championship defense being played giving up that many free throws.
Blocks per Possession - The King and his Cavs actually out-pace Dwight Howard and the Magic here, at second in the league (.075). The Cats find themselves dead in the middle at 15th in the league (.061), just behind LA (.063) and Boston (.062). Much of the love for the Bobcats middle of the road ranking has to go to Emeka Okafor (who should be an All-Star). The addition of Diaw has not only helped Emeka on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end, where he's been able to avoid foul trouble after the trade as well as Mek's getting accustomed to Larry Brown's system.
For those of you that like spreadsheets here's a breakdown of all the categories with team rank to the right of each stat (where applicable).
Another important note for Charlotte fans, with the exception of the slower pace, the team has improved, sometimes marginally and other times dramatically, in all of these statistical categories from a year ago. The Bobcats are not in the discussion of elite teams in the league, but with Coach Brown at the helm, and with more time for the pieces to gel, this team is beginning to have the makings of an elite team, at least on the defensive end of the floor.
