Miami's basketball team comes up with some impressive dunks in losing efforts. First, it was DeQuan Jones insane dunk against North Carolina and now we have Dwayne Collins giving the facial to Greg Paulus in the Canes 78-75 overtime loss to Duke on Saturday. Jones got thrown out of this game for "throwing" an elbow on Paulus after Duke scored a basket. Jones did deserve to get at the very least a technical foul for the play, but Paulus was grabbing the ball as it came through the basket after his team scored and Jones was trying to get the ball to inbound it. Paulus dry humped Jones and when Jones moved his arm to get Paulus out of the way Greg fell to the ground like a Eurpoean soccer player. This reaction is what got Jones ejected, not the actual contact.
It may be my bias on the situation but it seems to me that Paulus is a punk. Wasn't this guy a football player at one time? He seems to flop at ever chance he gets yet he plays defense exclusively with his hands while flailing to fake contact the whole time. It makes it more amazing that he tried to actually block this dunk versus his usual try to draw charge but get teabagged. Anyway, below is Dwayne Collins giving Paulus the business, and an overall tribute to Paulus getting dunked on here at Awful Announcing.
Monday, February 9
Greg Paulus Gets Another Taste
Lack of Football Leaves Time for Worthwhile Projects
While we all lament at the end of football on the field, I do not view it as the death of sports until August. Yes I suffer, but there is plenty of other games to watch between now and then. If you fancy yourself a football-only kind of person, then you will need some proper distractions to get to next season. May I suggest some beer bottle dominoes?
Thanks to our friends at YesButNoButYes
Peppers Sends Clear Message to Carolina
In his last time wearing a Carolina Panthers helmet, Julius Peppers had a sack of Peyton Manning and a tipped pass which he intercepted off of Jay Cutler in the NFC's 30-21 win in the Pro Bowl yesterday. For those in Carolina still holding out any slim hope of Peppers staying with the team, Julius made it clear he wants to play somewhere else. He discussed the situation on the sideline, on camera with Tiki Barber during the game. In the interview he shared more of his feelings with Barber than he had with any member of the Charlotte media.
From the Charlotte Observer:
"Peppers was asked why he wanted to leave the Panthers, and, specifically, why he wanted to play in a 3-4 defensive scheme (the Panthers play a 4-3 scheme). Peppers said he wanted to play in a scheme that would best take advantage of his ability.
When asked by Barber what it would take for the Panthers to keep him in Carolina, Peppers hesitated, then smiled and said he just wanted to enjoy the Pro Bowl.
Announcers Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth joked that Peppers ran a “line stunt” in an effort to avoid Barber's question."
Collinsworth also went on to say that in a 3-4, Peppers would have more responsbility to stop the run and he did not know if that was the best situaiton for Julius. The Pro Bowl was Peppers's opportunity to gain more interest from other teams and he certainly will have accomplished that with his play and his words about wanting to go elsewhere. The only questions now are who will pay the high pricetag for him and will he play like he did for the Panthers when he gets there?
Sunday, February 8
Shackleford Files 008: The ASD gets Cranky
Up at long last, this episode has final thoughts on the Super Bowl, some stellar (and by stellar I mean dead wrong) predictions about two teams in the ACC, and Catfish already has buyer's remorse regarding one team he declared would get into the tournament. After spanning the nation for all things college basketball, we take a few minutes to look at Nadal/Federer and the biggest jackass since Jimmy Patsos. Recorded Tuesday so feel free to mock us for all that we've gotten wrong and praise us for what little we've gotten right in the comments.
Saturday, February 7
Bye Ammo, Hello Impaler
The Bobcats have completed their third trade of the season, this time sending Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown to the LA Lakers in exchange for Vladimir Radmanovic. The Lakers get some cap space for 2010, and the Bobcats get someone to fill the void that Ammo was intended to fill, a wing player that can shoot and play mediocre defense. When Gerald returns he should offer an excellent additional dimension to the team with his ability to consistently knock down the 3-pointer (career 38.6%). Unlike Boris Diaw, the other big man the Cats have added, Vlad is not a skilled ball handler or distributor, but like Diaw his strength is not on the boards, a consideration that the front office has appeared to ignore in all of the trades this season. With this move there is no debate about the goal of the season and the franchise in the short term. They want to make the playoffs, and have mortgaged any short-term roster flexibility in an attempt to get there.
Continue reading...A-Rod and Steroids
Unless you've had your head buried in a Top Chef marathon, you've heard the news that A-Rod tested positive for two steroids in 2003. As of this moment, we're the fourth site to embed this video and it has just over 20,000 views. Something tells me, that number will rise very quickly. So this post is not because this is cutting edge, but to observe the power of YouTube. For the record, the Yankees are far more damaging to baseball than steroids, but I digress...
Not only does A-Rod deny using steroids, but also defends Barry Bonds, which seems even less surprising now. This interview from 2007, was originally aired on 60 Minutes:
Friday, February 6
The Head Coaches of the Kansas City Chiefs: You Don't Know [Blank]
Could this secondary logo be any more racist? Things sure have changed since the 1960s, like Kansas City head coaches(see what I did there?). Todd Haley has been named the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, which began as one of the founding members of the AFL under Lamar Hunt. Haley becomes the eleventh coach to put on the red and gold hat. In this edition of YDKB, we test your knowledge of the men who led the men of Kansas City. As always no cheating, no wikipedia, and feel free to post your score. The test begins after the break...
The first coach ever for the Kansas City franchise was Hank Stram who took over while the team was known as the Dallas [No cheating]. Stram was an assistant at [Never knew this] before being brought to the franchise by Hunt. Stram brought the Chiefs their only Super Bowl title when they won 23-7 over the [The Bills of the NFC] by "[No cheating]" the ball down the field.
After Stram was fired, Paul Wiggin took over in 1975. Wiggin went 5-9 which matched Stram's record from a year before and saw the final game of QB Hall of Famer [Not the Hawk]. Wiggin was fired in 1977 on Halloween and Tom Bettis took over on an interim basis; until the season ended and Marv Levy was brought in. Levy had been the coach of the Montreal [No cheating] of the CFL. Levy would later earn fame as coach of the [No cheating], but he struggled in KC.
In 1983 Marv was fired and Joe Mackovic took over. 1983 would not be a banner year for the Chiefs however as they decided to draft QB [Teams with Patrick now] out of Penn State and passing on Jim Kelly and Dan Marino. Mackovic made it to '87 but was then let go and Frank Gansz took over but he only won 8 games in his two seasons.
In 1988, the notorious GM [No cheating] who just recently left the team took over and hired Marty Schottenheimer. Marty's best year was 1993 when his backfield consisted of two Hall of Famers; [No cheating] at QB and [Not Aurelius] at RB. The Chiefs made the AFC Championship Game but lost to Marv Levy. They have not won a playoff game since.
Schottenheimer resigned in '98 and Gunther Cunningham took over and went 16-16 in two seasons. Then Dick Vermeil was brought in and QB [No cheating] was reunited with Vermeil from his time in St. Louis and a back-up RB from Baltimore named [Not Santonio] came in to run with great success. But Vermeil could not get the Chiefs deep into the playoffs, losing a shootout to the [No cheating] in the 2004 playoffs 38-31. The Chiefs failed to make the playoffs the next two years and that is when Dick retired and Herm came walking in.
Herm Edwards went 15-33 in his three seasons. Some thought that Edwards would be safe but once new GM [No cheating] took over, it was just a matter of time. Haley was hired today and will try to turn things around, and I do not think Anquan will be following him over.
Pencils down!
Answers below:
Answers:
1. Texans
2. The University of Miami(we will of course accept "The U")
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. matriculating
5. Len Dawson
6. Alouettes
7. Buffalo Bills
8. Todd Blackledge (lewl!)
9. Carl Peterson
10. Joe Montana
11. Marcus Allen
12. Trent Green
13. Priest Holmes
14. Indianapois Colts
15. Scott Pioli
Scoring Scale:
0: Not from the Midwest
1-3: Sensitive to Native American issues
4-6: Not a fan of KC BBQ
7-9: Once had a Nigerian Nightmare
10-12: You're a member of Chief's Nation
13-14: Jason Whitlock and Joe Posnanski would be proud
Perfect 15: That dog'll Hunt
Sometimes You Forget: Barry Sanders
Our good friend Tom came to visit us last month and it was great to catch up on old times. Tom also happens to be a Detroit Lions fan, which now strangley carries with it some measure of a badge of honor. The Lions have been through a lot in their history and perhaps the greatest example of their ineptitude was losing Barry Sanders. Number 20 has to be the greatest source of pride and dissapointment as any player can be to a franchise. It has been 10 seasons since Sanders took the field which might lend some to forget the totality of the greatness that he ran the ball with. Below is a tribute to the man, the myth and the legend. One of my favorite traits about Barry was that he probably ran for more negative yardage than any back in history yet ended up 3rd all-time, he was not afraid to fail. I will also remember his touchdown celebrations in that he never had them, a quick toss of the ball to the ref. Tom will still say Sanders' early retirement would not have happened if Wayne Fontes was never fired.
Phelps Mistake Being Overblown
With the news today that Kellogg is dropping Michael Phelps, or rather not extending his contract, the famous toke that Phelps took last weekend is now costing him more than just a little bad press. USA Swimming has suspended him for 3 months as well. The Kellogg spokesperson said "Michael's most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg." That seems somewhat peculiar considering that dry Kellogg cereal is most likely a staple of satisfying the munchies. This could begin a chain reaction that causes Phelps to lose numerous endorsements which in itself is not horrifying since has already made millions off of them, but the entire fiasco seems predicated on the belief that this has never happened before and that it is a mortal sin. I in no way condone the smoking of weed but the media, the public, the authorites and Phelps himself need to put this incident in perspective and then move on.
This of course starts and ends with the perpetrator Phelps himself. Whatever he chooses to do when he is not in the middle of his training regiment in the seclusion of his own privacy is his prerogative. The mistake Phelps makes here is that he chooses to engage in the said activity in a place that is not local to him, in this case a University of South Carolina frat house. If you do not know all the people around you well enough to trust, do not place hands on the bong. In this day and age, you do not have to see a camera for you to be photographed and furthermore any picture taken of you can travel across in the world in seconds. It is possible that the dude that snapped the photo of Phelps made some coin off of Michael's mistake.
Of course, if Phelps is looked at in certain angles, it is possible to see why he would make these misteps. He has all the physical tools that make him the supreme swimmer along with the competitive drive and mental complex that fuels his desire to win. His social awkwardness is apparent in interviews and his SNL hosting skills, and his rough-edged sensitivity to anyone that speaks ill of his swimming performances were on display at the Water Cube. He is the perfect athlete but as a person, like us all he is fallible. When he received a DUI following his last Olympics it was excused as a kid being a kid even though he was 19 and an adult as far as the law was concerned. He is now 23 and there is no excuses left, to do something that a large segment of his demographic do and admit they do freely is not a proper explanation. He needs to recognize his trade-off that when you get the multi-millions in endorsements you do not get the same exemptions of a casual member of the public.
With all of that being said, this has been a snowball effect by the media from the beginning. This has been turned into the same effect if Phelps was mainlining black tar heroin while being surrounded by hookers. He is held to a higher standard yes, but if you cannot explain to a kid that Phelps did a dumb thing and made a poor choice and have that be that, you should have no influence on any child, anywhere. Just saying that will not rid the kid of curiosity but that is all you can do, they will face the reality of drugs and alcohol no matter how much you try to protect them so all you can do is try to nudge them on how to make wise choices.
Apart from the ridiculous claim that this somehow harms children has been the introduction of legal aspects. If you check out Catfish's walk-off on this week's Shackleford Files, he will share how I view the law enforcement down in Columbia discussing possibly charging Phelps with smoking weed.
The point is that Phelps deserves to be punished and in many ways already has for what he got caught doing. The severity of the punishment seems to be from everyone hopping on a self-righteous bandwagon of disdain for the actions of a young man attending a party. I suppose it is easy to forget that the Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes was arrested this year for being found with weed in his car and other athletes have committed far more greivous illegal acts than this one. This is the flavor of the moment; condemn something that is so easily condemnable because the proof is right there in front of your eyes. Hopefully the next time Phelps faces this situation he will pass the dutchie to the left-hand side.
