Reverse the Curse

Be it TVDave or MeWolves, you f*cked me up bad with that inevitable crowning of the Weedblazers sh*t. If you hafta curse somebody, curse the two-time defending champ Knicks33 instead.

Thanks.

Does Anyone Need Another Reason To Love Gilbert?

Another must read from the only thing I miss about living in Washington DC.

Poly-tix

Thought this was an interesting list, in case you needed any more reason to think that Al Michaels is a tool.

Thug-life

For the second time in my life, I am enjoying the excitement and anticipation of the Bears in the Superbowl. Great town, great stuff.

The League gets attention in this matter as yesterday a big Bears star won court approval to travel to Miami despite the 10 pending weapons charges against him, which violated his already existing parole, and the next day murder of a man who was arrested with Tank Johnson. We don't have to look far to find the other thuggish transgressions of the NFL - here, here, & here.

I don't buy the helmets argument to explain the divergence of reputations for the NBA and NFL is the number of players. The only reason I can come up with is team size. When Stephen Jackson and his collegues turned a strip club parking lot into the wild west, one of 5 starters were involved. Tank Johnson is just one of 22 starters, 30 including special teams. It follows that the Pacers, and by extension NBA, are 20% thuggish and the Bears and NFL are only 3% thuggish.

LB was a founding member

Tim Legler on the Sun's deadly offense from ESPN's Daily Dime


" When I played, there was a stat for shooters called the 170 Club. You're in the club if you're above 40 in 3-point percentage, 50 in field goal shooting and 80 in free throw percentage -- the numbers add up to 170. Then I looked it up the other day and I saw that the entire Phoenix team combined is on the edge of the 170 club (49.8 FG, 39.9 3-Pointers, 81.5 FT). Amazin"

Indeed. WTF stylie.

Casey's gone, nothin but a ripple

Did you Wolves fans expect this move? Certainly Casey may have his limitations, but he had this crew playing together, right?

Webb Page

Just Fab

Alright, angst time is over, what can I do but embrace the move? May you be everything great you once were, Chris Webber, welcome home.

Can we get an image with CWebb playing with the moon, please? Preferably in Pistons' garb. What number will he wear? Joe D's #4 is in the rafters.

On CWebb Going to the Pistons

As most of you know, there was a time when I would have wanted Chris Webber on the Pistons before any other player in the world. When I was in high school, I remember my cousin coming back from a tournament in down state Michigan, talking about how their small town team had gotten destroyed by Detroit Country Day, featuring an unstoppable sophomore named Chris Webber. I followed the Fab Five, loving them perhaps more than any other sports team, college or pro, enjoying their many highs and their few lows, and they were very low lows. Remember him coming into the L, running with the Warriors, throwing down on Sir Charles after a ridiculous behind the back move on the break, good enough for a great barber shop shoe commercial, featuring "Express Yourself." And then things started to go a bit sour. We thought he might be the missing piece for Run TMC, but no, there were the issues with Nellie. So he gets shipped off to the Wiz and reunited with Juwan and we think, maybe they can bring some Fab Five magic to the Wiz, but no. Injuries, allegations, and underperformance lead the man to get traded to Sactown for Mitch Richmond, in what turns out to be one of the most unbalanced trades in the history of the league. He reinvents himself in Sac, taking the Kings to the brink of the title, but is thwarted again by Phil, Shaq, Kobe, the refs, and his own inability to be a great crunch-time player. Does an all-timer get the ball in the crunch and search frantically for a hand-off to Mike Bibby? Doubts emerge. Then we hear about some funky behavior while at Michigan. Apparently he takes hundreds of thousands of dollars from a booster then lies about it to a grand jury. Is he going to jail? I can't blame him for taking the money--the college game is so full of hypocrites who get rich off the players, it's hard to find fault with someone acting corruptly within a corrupt system. But you can't shake the feeling that he's trying not to be accountable for himself, that he knows better but thinks he can outsmart everyone. And he is smart enough to fool all people some of the time and some people all of the time, but you find yourself moving from the former category into the latter. You have the thought and eventually dismiss it that maybe he called that timeout because he was into the booster for money because you know the booster got money through running a gambling ring in an auto plant. And that sucks, even if you become convinced he didn't do it. Whatever the truth, the Michigan program is crushed and shattered and hasn't recovered yet. Now there are other issues there, too, and you wonder whether Bo, when he was alive, wasn't asking, why do we have a Duke man coaching a Michigan team? But I digress...then he takes a grand free agent tour, flirting with the Pistons, but ultimately returning to Sac, which was the right move for him, but still. Huge contract, max man. Then there are more playoff failures and then injuries, including the career killer microfracture surgery, the year I picked him very naively in the fantasy league, thinking he'd be out a month and then back being the old CWebb. Instead he's out until the new year when he comes back dragging that leg around the court. Somewhere in there he gets busted for pot getting on a plane (how can such a smart dude make such a boneheaded move?). Fine that he burns, but why not be smart about it? Then worse, he blames it on a member of the posse, what's that about? Loyalty? And now he's a used to be, shoulda been, almost great and he gets shipped to Philly to pair up with the Answer, only their games don't mesh at all and he's firmly embedded into the NBA malcontent crowd. A couple of bum years, frustrating for everyone because of how much money he makes, and then the buyout and he's a free man.

And here's the deal, you know that he's a terrible 20 million dollar man, but he's probably still a damned good 5 million dollar guy. And if he comes in then the offensive flow will improve, he'll be a beautiful passer that should fit seamlessly into the Pistons' share-the-ball approach. He'll know it's his last chance and he'll want to work hard to repair the tarnished relationship with his hometown. And maybe he'll even try a bit harder on D, and at least get out of last place on Clowny McHollinger's list of worst interior defenders. And we need a little more front court help, which will also give Joe D. the opportunity to trade an unnecessary big for backup point guard help so Flip Murray can go back to the end of the bench where he belongs when Chauncey comes back.

But with CWebb, you just know it won't work out, right? How could it? Every time it seems like things are on the down swing for him, he comes back and makes it right. But even more true, every time it seems like he's about to achieve something major, he falls just short, for some reason, his fault or not. I just don't see how this could work out for me. If he comes to Detroit it will be better than expected for a while, but will ultimately fall short of a championship. The only way he wins a championship is if he goes to the Lakers and does it with Kobe, which will fill my mouth with bile.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I gave up on Chris Webber a while ago, finally, after a prolonged fandom that was at times thrilling but ultimately disappointing on all levels. And now I'm at the front of the line again, looking at the barker asking me if I want to get on the creaky roller coaster again. Would it be an ultimately redemption if he came back and, unlikely as it sounds, helped to fuel a championship run? Yes. Will it happen? No. Chances of it seeming possible and then having your hopes dashed? Very high.

What will be, will be...

Chris Kaman's New Haircut and other things I noticed at the Wolves Clippers game

All right, so I don't listen to as much Grateful Dead as I used to in college either. But why would you get rid of your notorious freak flag, Chris Kaman? I'll admit that I always felt bad for guys who were guarding you and Steve Nash last year, because they might get a faceful of that greasy-sweaty squeegee. But in a league where we too-often look at players like they're trading cards, highlight-reel-stars or chess-pieces, you've got to go with your most distinguishing feature to get your power. And Kaman, it ain't the sideburns.

To prove my point, Kaman went down with an ankle injury during the Wolves Clippers Wednesday. Maybe if he were to put back on some of that Grateful Dead, he would've heard of a fellow named Samson, and the bad things that befall those who get a haircut. Luckily for Democrats, Nancy Pelosi knows where her mojo comes from. She got remaining members of the Dead, Wyclef Jean, Tony Bennett, Carole King and others to seal the deal at her bash to celebrate her ascension to Speaker of the House. If Nancy gets a Chris Kaman cut (and sideburns), I will be sad and the Dems will lose. But to be fair to Kaman, defending Randy Foye would probably hurt Pelosi's ankles too.

As for Foye, he had a crappy game vs. the Clips. On a lot of offensive posessions, he mostly dribbled around the perimeter before initating a pass that would eventually end up in his hands for a failed 3 attempt, or a drive to the hoop where he was up against some pretty tall Clippers. The fans at Target Center always wanted the foul, and he eventually got one or two. But he's a rookie, and his poor shooting meant Clippers ball most of the time. People in Minny are so excited about this guy, though. Big cheers no matter what. No draft picks for years will do that to a city.

Because Foye and James are better shooting the ball, that's why I appreciate a guy like Ricky Davis who -- as frustrating as his shots can sometimes be -- can hook people up nicely and distribute. That was another part of the Wolves downfall though-- Foye and Ricky tried to get a little too fancy with passes in the second quarter when the Wolves were on a big run. A few turnovers later, the Clips were back in the game.

Ricky's come a long waith with his haircut too.... Who had this one first, Ricky or Scot Pollard?


Cassell shot the ball well, and it was fun to watch him at Target Center again. When Sam would evade Foye or Ricky and get ready to move to the basket or shoot, KG would come help out and lock him down.

But it was Maggette with the big jumpers that did the Wolves in. Elton Brand's jumpers were falling all night too, like he was doing his best Mark Blount impression.

Despite the loss, Me-Wolves will be comforted that at least Bracey Wright got a few buckets. But I wish we had Gomes instead. The Wolves could use a small forward right about now. Oh well, McHale can't get all the good second rounders.

Riley with stubble?

I do not ever remember Riles looking so gruff. I mean, things really suck in Miami, but he looks way outta sorts. This is A#1 Mr. Slick Pat Riley. Unshaven. He looks like Mickey Rourke after long night with bottle of bourbon.

Brother Dave nailed Riles as a member of the Living Dead back in the Outside Shot. Assuming Dave was correct, do you think Patty the Spectre made a one last deal with the Devil for that 2006 title, and now his 'payment' is past due?

Or is it that Stan Van Gundy went voodoo on Riley and is stickin pins in a doll somewhere in Haiti?