Best Series Ever?

It feels like the Spring of 1991 and a key to making the Finals is winning big series in Detroit. GO BULLS!

But I digress...I LOVE GOLDEN STATE.

I was a warrior

The logo

Getting under Dallas' skin

GO BARON GO!

Bravo Sabo-Way back in the day

Check this video of young Sabonis.. Wish the Blazers had utilized his passing like those guys at the end of the clip.

Go BULLS!

We are completely O-wild here in Chicago...Olympics, Obama, and...LOOKOUT Shaquille O'Neal. It's an old fashioned Chicago mugging and I don't care what kind of thug Pat Reilly is.

Consider Chocolate City. I am personally a Bill Richardson guy but I will definitely vote for the Obama/Arenas Co-Presidency.

Give a cheer for Golden Tech!

Great first weekend.

Its awesome that the Warriors, Nets, and Nugs all won the openers. Say what you will about Baron Davis’ proclivity for injuries, but put him in a seven game series and look out. Nellie’s ‘so crazy it might just work’ game strategies appear to be messin with the astute Mr. Johnson. The old master still has some wisdom to impart to his student. Dirk is gonna go nutso next game.

I think the Bulls look great. Luol Deng is certainly doing the coming out party thing---but as been true all year, it is the team execution that separates Chicago. Miami has its hands full.

And what’s up with Denver? Everybody is talking about Melo and Iverson, but that back line of Camby and Nene is big time on the defensive end. This is an awesome series.

The Ko-bster showed his colors early, blaming his team mates for his poor showing in the second half. Ask if he was fatigued, Kobe said: "No, I was fine. I was fine. We didn't execute like we did in that first half, so my touches became a lot harder." Asked the same question, Nash said he didn't know if Bryant wore down, "but certainly it's not easy to go kind of one-on-one that long."

Houston looks real good. What is up with Boozer, Okhur and Kirilenko going 7-34? That is a losing formula.

Hope Bron’s ankle is fine.

Little Ricky Speaks

Click to Play

I posted last night as commish, and I am posting today as 2007 Moonball Champion. Here is a message from Red, Black and Blue's union representative, Ricky Davis.

Welcome to Moonball TV!

Moon Rise - Moon Set

Whew, that season flew by. After starting this blog and talking about this fantasy league for an entire summer, suddenly it's summer again and the regular season's over.

And what a race from the Moonball frontrunners! Second/Third/Fourth are still being decided as I write this. Monkeyshoes went off to an early lead behind a surprise start by Chris Bosh, and a solid performance by Pau Gasol, who missed only a short amount of time and played out the rest of the season like a fanatic. How late was he drafted? Unfortunately for Mr. Shoes, no shows from his late season boon Nene and Rip Hamilton may have cost him second.

Rabbis was with monkeyshoes for a while, and had a lot of early games, but no Dwayne Wade was a heartbreaker tonight, and sums up the past month or so after a very impressive climb that lasted all season long.

But the wily Knick33, with a strong cast and great late season performances from David West and final evening performance by West, Jamaal Magloire and Andre Miller sealed the deal, even without Duncan or Iguodala. Wow! Congrats on 2nd place, Mr. 33. I couldn't have predicted that!

Another spot in contention tonight was Rat House Gang making an early evening charge on JLev...only to have him emerge on top in the late games. A game appearance by Dirk Nowitzki helped Lev tremendously, after he lost a couple of games to Dirk last week. (How did he know?)

However another good night for late-season surprise Rec Leaguers, bested both St. Paulers in his bid for most-improved player this year.

And despite a great season by the Bulls, HP All-Stars couldn't quite put it together...and thus, the Layden goes from brother to brother.

Everyone should be congratulated for playing a great season and adjusting to the Yahoo league to make it so competitive. Many thanks to MeWolves behind the scenes, who set up the blog and had confidence we could move the league. He will be buying you money cats rings next year.

And shit, I won.

As the first expansion-team to the top, I feel excited and pretty lucky. Maybe a little masterful. I really loved my team too. I am glad to be joined by monkeyshoes, expansion team -- first time in the money.

Thanks to the Huskers, and Weedblazers for trading with me and talking me up. A special thanks to the Rat House Gang, just because I said I would. Not because of the Z-Rafer trade...but because you stayed and your book got done. (And by staying, we somehow ended up switching to a weekly league. Where would I be without all those lost points by Weedblazers? Rabbis? Knick33?) Also, thanks to Ironwood Flash for agreeing to send me 25 bucks. It will go a long way towards appeasing Michelle with food and drink after a long NBA season.

Moonball is a great thing. The NBA has really won me over these past few years -- and Moonball is the sugar coating on the regular season. Sweet indeed. But we all know it's all about playoffs - just reading Weedblazers previous post got me drooling.

Thanks again, sorry about the long post. I had fun being your commish, and I will post again if I think of any more Moonball season wrap up. But this one's in the can!

I Can't F'n Wait for the Playoffs

This is going to be an awesome playoffs.

Obviously Dallas is a front runner. . . but they will almost surely draw the GState Warriors, lead by an almost healthy Baron Davis. Fireworks!

Houston is going freakin nuts. Utah has a good damn team, and Jerry Sloan is a sensational coach. But Jeff Van Gundy has found a way to meld the powers of McGrady and Yao on offense, and we all know JVG's kids play the D. Badass.

You know I love Phoenix. It would be an affirmation of all that is good if Amare rises so high to elevate this team to a Championship. They will kill LA. The Spurs will be a problem.

Oh, yes. Those Spurs. They are at it again. Peaking when it matters. Drawing Iverson, Melo and Camby in the first round is serious work. San Antonio have the toughest road to the Finals: Denver, Phoenix and Dallas.

Sounds crazy. It will be. The Spurs or Houston. No kiddin.

The East is a much shorter conversation, but not one devoid of intrigue. Ultimately I like Detroit: The versatility, experience and killer instinct. But Chicago is clicking at right time, and I am sure that this Playoffs is Chris Bosh's coming out party on the national scene. . . those poor Raptors are never on TV.

Of course Miami has the mystique factor and the Daddy factor, but I remain skeptical as to Wade's health. And they will likely draw perhaps the greatest factor of them all in young Mr. James. The Cavs still have many holes as a team, but in the East, Bron may have enough to run the table.

When I wrote intrigue I meant it. If not Detroit, then Chicago. Wild. Great Lakes stylie.

But in the end, the 2007 Champion is from Texas. As sucky as that may sound, the ball is going to be amazing. Me and monkeyshoes are gettin cable.

The Ring is the Thing

Maybe we should up the dues next year so the winner gets one of these:

http://www.jostens.com/sports/fan_sports/index.asp

Staying in Chicago

Sometimes when I am in the middle of a test my mind wanders. With Sam Zell selling the Cubs one of my many fears as a Chicagoan appears as more than a apparition - Mark Cuban purchasing the Cubs.

He is right when it comes to the relative talent of the latest college dynasty. "The best college team of the last 10 years," Cuban said, "would lose by 50 to any team at the bottom of the NBA." (CBS SPORTSLINE)

But Cuban would be so incorrigible and unpleasant as a cheerer in chief. First of all, I hate Texas. Have I suggested to you that we sell Texas to Mexico? That would help both our national debt and provide a new president to Mexico - Viva la Bush. Second, when was the last time you watched TV by way of Yahoo? That's the technology Cuban made his money on. Lastly, cheering for Dallas?

Corporate ownership has really served the Cubs well for the entire life of the franchise. When many many owners have decided to mortgage a franchise's soul and pocket the cash, the Cubs stayed in the city through the 70s and 80s. When many owners chose to build for boxes, the corporate owners have built more bleacher seats. The suits may just have it right.

Winning isn't everything. Sunshine is.

Besides, after three games, the Bulls are still 1/2 game behind Cleveland who is going to play Miami, Detroit and Washington this week. Getting graded on the curve is almost always the way to go.