NBA Trading Deadline

Wow. So nothing was going to happen at this trading deadline, huh? That's what all the experts told us. Supposedly, the Cliff Robinson trade was the biggest thing that was going to hit. Proving once again my theory that anyone who wants to be a pro and/or college coach when they are an announcer/analyst/insider in the sports world is insane. Yeah, I want to join a profession where I have to work really hard for ridiculously long hours, every single move I make is second guessed by everyone in the WORLD, and my entire fate is in the hands of egomanical morons (and yes I can say that; I used to be/am one), when I can be the guy who sits in a cushy studio for an hour a day being the second guesser, while being accountable to no one. I know which job I'm choosing!

Anyway, here are the trades.

* Baron Davis to Warriors for Dale Davis and Speedy Claxton from Hornets: Good trade for Golden State. They got a true All Star for nothing. Sure, The Baron has a max deal and injury problems, but he's one of a very small number of players who actually kind of wanted to play for Golden State (insert joke of "anything would be better than playing for the Hornets, right?" here). He's a hometown star (went to UCLA), and actually has talent. The Warriors aren't going to sign any big name free agents, anyway, especially after the ridiculous contracts Chris Mullin gave up last off season, so they might as well take a risk on Baron. It's not like they gave up anything to get him. As for the Hornets...come on...couldn't you at least have gotten SOMETHING for Baron? Anything?

* Jamal Mashburn and Rodney Rodgers to Sixers for Glenn Robinson from Hornets: Great trade for the Sixers. I love Rodney Rodgers; I think he's got a great game, he's always been one of my favorite role players. He also had some of his best years while playing for Jim O'Brien in Boston, so he's going to a coach that knows how to use him. So they trade an expiring contract (Robinson) for an expiring contract (Mashburn) and Rodgers...um, New Orleans, you're 0 for 2 so far.

And by the way...I wrote this entire column out, and the stupid blogger lost it as we were trying to post. I'm angry now.

* Keith Van Horn to Mavericks for Alan Henderson and Calvin Booth to Bucks: God I hate you Don Nelson. Please go away. Just go. Retire, get another rotator cuff surgery, I don't care. Just go. Why do the Mavericks refuse to acknowledge that you need players who do the dirty work? You need your indians as much as you need your chiefs. It's so frustrating. Alan Henderson had provided good minutes of the bench as a backup PF/C; he rebounded, played good defense, and could even throw the ball in the bucket if he was left open. Hell, Booth was even useful because Booth kept Shawn Bradley on the bench--always a good thing. So now we have a $16 mil scrub who's going to keep us from picking up free agents the next 3 years. Great.

That being said, the Bucks have waived Alan Henderson, and there is a chance the Mavs will get him back. If that happens, this goes from "bad trade" to "okay". Cross your fingers.

* Mike James to Rockets for Reece Gaines: And I quote (myself): " As far as I’m concerned, the Rockets have three (Ming, McGrady, Jim Jackson) and a half (Howard) starters, and the rest of the team is nothing but backups. The desperately need a good starting point guard. They also desperately need a good outside shooter, preferably at shooting guard. It’s hard to win with 3.5 starters, no matter how good those 3.5 are. "

Well, Houston has gone out and added Mike James, David Wesley, and Jon Barry--all veteran shooting guards/point guards who play hard, do what they can do and don't do what they can't, and know how to win--while losing only one person of consequence (Jim Jackson). They've also taken the reigns off of Little Bobby Sura (I told you he could ball) to outstanding results. Houston, excellent work.

* Maurice Taylor to Knicks for Vin Baker and Moochie Norris to Rockets: I only bother to mention this trade because it is ANOTHER undersized, poor rebounding and poor defending power forward that Isiah Thomas has decided to add. Isiah, you keep proving that you are an idiot. Seriously, could Thomas win a single fantasy league at this point?

* Nazr Mohammed to Spurs for Malik Rose and 2 1st round picks: It keeps getting better and better! Marc Stein said it best: "One of these days, Thomas is going to get the memo that this ain't no 6-foot-8-and-under league." What a moron! He has 8 players on the roster who are all exactly the same type of player, and that kind of player isn't even good! Good move for the Spurs though; they now have a backup center who would start for most teams. The rich get richer.

* Antoine Walker to Celtics for Tom Gugliotta, Gary Payton, and a 1st round pick: Hawks, is this really all you could get for Toine? A future first round pick? And a mediocre one at that? He's having a good statistical season; I mean, I wouldn't give you anything else for Toine, but NBA execs are supposed to love him. Some people wanted him to be an All Star!

As for Toine going back to the Celts, which was an ugly divorce at best...Hell, why not. The Celts desperately needed to add someone after the Sixers trade, and as long as Toine and DannyAinge aren't in the same room, he should be okay. This is the old "we'll give him a shot, and if it doesn't work, we'll shitcan him (again)".

* Chris Webber to Sixers for Brian Skinner, Kenny Thomas, and Corliss Williamson: Great trade for Philly. Allen Iverson gets not only a big man, but a big man who can score, rebound, and LOVES TO PASS. That last part is the most important. He finally has the "other" great player to keep defenses from collapsing on him. When you team the two of them with the young but promising group around them...hey, why not? In the East, they'll be an elite team. Good move Philly.

Now this isn't near as bad of a trade for the Kings as most people think. I like all three of these players; they're all really good role players/solid starters for a team. Now of course I always subscribe to the "never trade a superstar for any number of role players, no matter how good the role players are", but this doesn't apply here, because Webber is not a superstar. I don't think he was even before he tore his ACL and he had two good legs to run around on. Besides, every time Webber went down, the Kings ALWAYS did better. Always. So add some good players, and you're telling me they won't be fine?

My only problem with this trade is this makes it Pedja's team. Well Kings fan, I've got bad news for you: YOU DO NOT WANT PEDJA TO BE THE MAN. Does no one remember Pedja airballing a wide open three pointer against the Lakers in the Conference Finals, after trying his best to avoid eye contact with Mike Bibby so he didn't have to take the shot in the first place? You want Pedja to be the second banana on your team, definitely not your first. He doesn't have the cajones. Now, Webber didn't either, but still...if I were the Kings, sure I'd want to sign Pedja, but I'd be trying to go get someone, too. Otherwise, this will be a team that continues to do well in the regular season, but dies early and often in the playoffs.

So in other words, it will be business as usual for the Queens.

Sorry kids...

But I've been sick all week. Hence the no updates. I've had a lot to cover too; Constantine review, the Chris Webber trade, St. Pat's Panther's basketball, Pet peeves, etc. It'll just have to wait til next week. The good news is that I'm not dead...yet. Though moving Brendon in tomorrow, in the rain, when it's 50 degrees outside (freezing in my book), might very well kill me.

Hopefully Kyle won't read this, so he won't feel bad.

Goodbye cruel world!

Thoughts on the NBA All Star Game

I'll kind of go in chronological order here, but don't quote me on that. Enjoy!

* So Destiny's Child was singing before the game, and I was shocked to find: Beyonce is FAT! Her legs are HUGE! I couldn't believe it. She's still beautiful, don't get me wrong. And she's not fat at all from the waist up. But her legs and ass look like someone is blowing up a balloon...they just keep getting bigger and bigger. And she needs to think about that when considering what she wears.

* Shaq and KG win the coveted "Coolest Walk In Awards". It's so nice to see two guys who are having fun and genuinely excited to be there. Dwayne Wade wins the "Kid In A Candy Store" award for being the first time All Star who looks most excited about the fact that he's there. Lebron wins the "I'm Already Too Cool To Be Here" award. More on that later. Antawn Jamison wins the "So Does This Validate My Ridiculous Max Contract" award, by looking so relieved to be an All Star. Kobe, of course, wins the "Everyone Hates Me and I Hate Them" award, for being the only All Star to be booed while running out. I seriously thought he wasn't going to give the little kids High Fives as he ran down the lane. He remembered too at the last second.

* Shaq and Kobe did not shake hands in the pretip shakehandsathon. The TNT announcers made sure to point that out. I can't wait for Shaq to kill Kobe on the court. See, Shaq is too smart to take him out the first few times they play...but at the end of this season or sometimes next year, when people aren't really talking as much about the Shaq-Kobe feud, you're going to see Shaq KILL Kobe in a game. You heard it here first.

* I also love how much pleasure Shaq takes in destroying Yao Ming. It's like, "you DARE to compare this scrub to me? He looks lost the entire time! He plays like a scared little girl! So you think he's great...watch this!" Did I see a Killer Crossover and a dunk over Yao in the first quarter? I love post-first title Shaq. Once he got that title, it's like he said, "you know, I don't have to worry about pressure and expectations anymore; now I can just have fun and be me."

* How do I feel about Ray Allen? In some ways, I really like him: by all accounts, he's a nice guy, he obviously works real hard on his game, he's a really smart guy, he's the only pro athlete ever to actually turn in a good acting performance, he has one of the sweetest shots I've ever seen. However, in some ways I can't stand him: he is obviously one of those guys who plays basketball because he's good at it and can make a lot of money doing it (Kevin Johnson, David Robinson), he only plays really hard when he has to or thinks he personally gets something to gain from it, and I think he really doesn't give a shit about how his team does, except in how it relates to his reputation and next contract. I can't decide. Some days I love Ray, some days I can't stand him.

* Lebron...don't just imitate what all the other All Stars are doing, TAKE OVER. This is your league. This is your game. TAKE OVER.

* Wow...Allen Iverson is really playing hard. He's like the ultimate Catch 22; he always tries so hard and plays so well with other good players, but his contract, ball hogging, and churlish attitude keep other great players from playing with him. Kind of sad. And does anyone else wonder what exactly are the tattoos he's covering up with that sock?

* Leanne Rimes in high heals and singing a country song at halftime at the NBA All Star Game? Ummmm...who thought this up? Has the NBA never heard of "Target Market"?

* Oh my God...this is one of the worst things I've ever seen. Seriously. So Leanne Rimes is kinda country, but she's mostly pop now. There is a DIE HARD country band singing now--I think they're called Big and Rich--and one of the singers is WEARING A CONFEDERATE ARMY JACKET. AT HALFTIME OF THE NBA ALL STAR GAME.

Now, I don't believe that every single person who has a Confederate Flag flying somewhere (room, car, etc.) is racist. I understand that it is a symbol of Southern Pride to some, and not a symbol of racism, and I accept that. HOWEVER, with that being said, there is still a LOT of racism that is wrapped up in that symbol--and like it or not, Southern Pride guys, that's rightly so. So I hardly think that HALFTIME OF THE NBA ALL STAR GAME--with the majority of its players and fans being black--is hardly the time to wear a fricking Confederate Army Jacket! I so with the game had been in Detroit or Philly. I could totally see those fans running down from the stands and tearing him limb from limb. What an idiot!

I'm really curious to see if the national media will say anything about this. Probably not, because no one really cares about the NBA, it's All Star game, and it's half time show.

* Is it just me, or is watching Carmelo sitting there pathetic? This was supposed to be HIS All Star Game, HIS place/time to shine. He was supposed to step up his outstanding rookie season to a whole nother level this year, and this was going to be his and Lebron's All Star Game to shine. Instead, he decided he had this NBA thing figured out, did nothing all summer but bitch about his playing time in the Olympics and make videos with drug dealers, and came back sucking this year. It would be sad if I liked Carmelo...but since I don't, and I always figured that he would do something dumb like this, I am enjoying this a little. My only regret is he dragging the Nuggets, who I thought would be an awesome team to watch, down with him. I knew the Nuggets were a cursed franchise...I should have known better than to have faith in them.

* Is there a more boring player than Jermaine O'Neal? I mean really? Maybe Tim Duncan or Grant Hill, but they are so fundamentally solid that you still have to at least admire them. All J O'Neal does is back his guy down and shoot a turnaround jumper. Is he effective? Yes. Is he boring as sin? Yes.

* Dirk with 4 blocks and 4 steals? Who is this guy? God bless you Avery Johnson...and please go away Don Nelson.

* So was it me, or did Dwayne Wade do whatever he wanted to in this game? I mean, at the end of the game, when the East was up by ten and the West tried to make a run, Wade completely took over the game and just scored at will. Really impressive performance. He was the one at the games end that I left thinking, "wow, of all the great players, he was THE MAN out there."

* Lebron, what happened? You don't have to take a back seat to these guys, especially Kobe. I understand where he is coming from--he doesn't want to seem upitty, he wants to take it slow and show respect for the guys who have been there before--which are all good, nice things. It speaks well to him as a person. But Lebron, you're better than all these guys. Take over and dominate the game. If you do that, the other players will start playing hard, and it will turn into a real game, which is much better than crappy alley oop passes.

You're The King, Lebron. Be The King.

Congrats to Jon and Jaime...

who got engaged this weekend! I'm really happy for both of you, and I can't wait for your wedding! God bless both of you!

Good news everybody!

Ben's back! Yay!

:-)

Goodbye, Hockey.

In more ways than one.

The 2004-2005 NHL season was cancelled today. Or, as some would put it, if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Who gives a shit that hockey is gone, other than people that live in Canada? Really? This hockey strike has been laughable. LAUGHABLE. The problem, of course, is the player's belief that they are part of the "Big Three".

America supports three major sports: football, basketball, and baseball (in that order). These are the guys who make millions of dollars a year. Hockey players think it's a big four. Guess what guys: YOU'RE WRONG!

There's no multi-million to billion dollar TV deal for hockey. There's no legion of angry fans upset when the players go on strike. Does Nike go out of it's way to sign the latest hockey star? Do you see cities lining up to build a new hockey stadium for new teams? Can the average sport fan name the player of the year in hockey last year?

Of course not. I've heard many analysts say that the strike will make hockey a "regional sport" again. To this I say: water seeks its own level. Hockey got a LITTLE popular, and you had some greedy owners and an arrogant commissioner decide that they could MAKE people like hockey. They decided if they just acted like everyone loved hockey, people would start loving it. They were dead wrong.

Don't get me wrong; I don't dislike hockey. Hell, I probably like hockey more than football. But it is what it is: a sport that has an incredibly loyal fan base, but not a national one. Yes, there are plenty of people in many cities who will pay $150 to pay for tickets by the glass. But to make the big money, to get in the big three, you must attract the casual sports fan. The guy who isn't a diehard hockey fan must be willing to stop down and watch a game on TV. That's what makes a sport go big time. Hockey tried to do that...and failed. If you can't do that, then players can't earn millions of dollars a season. The math just doesn't work. Sorry guys.

And as for the owners: FUCK YOU TOO! Please don't think that I'm blaming the players totally for this mess. The players grossly miscalculated their value, sure, but they made a SINCERE effort to reach an agreement with the owners. The owners have lied, cheated, and stonewalled the players and fans. The owners had NO intention of playing hockey this season. At all. They've lied about where ticket prices come from, they lie about the amount of revenue they take in, they lie about caring about the fans, and they lie about being sincere in their negotiations. They don't want to see a strong union like what exists in baseball, or even a little bit in basketball (say what you will about Billy Hunter, but basketball players have GUARENTEED contracts. Those bastards are written in adamantium once they sign the dotted line), so they went out of their way to kill this season in order to kill any chance of anything other than a puppet player's union evolve.

So the NHL is back where it belongs: in the gutter. I'm happy. Hockey is a fun sport that can be enjoyed locally. It's not a big market sport that will attract lots of TV fans and endorsements for it's players. Sorry guys; I hate to break the news to you, but it's true. You are what you are, and be happy with that.

Valentine's Day

First of all, Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. Now that that's out of the way, I'll proceed to rip it.

Does anyone like this holiday? Anyone at all? Let's look at how several different groups view this day:

* Single women get horribly depressed on Valentine's Day.
* Single men don't give a shit one way or the other; if anything, they're happy that they don't have to participate in all the nonsense.
* Non-married men in a relationship fucking hate it, because it costs them two months salary no matter how much money they make.
* Non-married women in a relationship aren't that into it, because all they do is freak about where they are going to go for the date, what he's going to get them, and what they're going to do to him if he doesn't do a good job.
* Married couples don't really care; they are smug in their realization that they're married, and don't have to go through all the crap that this day brings on. They are annoyed, however, at all the crowds and the prices of objects, and thus stay home to avoid them.

So let's review: the closest anyone gets to feelings of joy is the joy single men get at not participating. Yeah. This is fun for everyone involved.

So tell me women: why do you partake in the farce? Why do you let yourself get sucked into this Hallmark Holiday? It's true! The prices of flowers triples at least, every possible dating avenue jacks their prices and gets RIDICULOUSLY crowded, and the pressure put on both parties makes you both miserable!

And does this really make you feel good? If you're in a relationship, do you really feel better, do you really feel like your man really cares about you if he gets you something on a day that is constantly plastered all over the news, and that he knows he will be HORRIBLY ridiculed by men and women alike if he doesn't go out of his way to do something nice to you? Wouldn't it be safe to say you might have some serious relationship problems if this is the only time of year your man does something romantic with you?

And what the fuck do men get out of this? The best women only get a token gift for their men. I'm sorry ladies, but I don't think I've EVER had a male friend come rushing up to me the next day and go, "oh my God, do you know what blank did/got for me for Valentine's Day?" And I know plenty of great women who have wonderful relationships. It's just that this isn't a holiday about love anymore; it's a holiday about "get your woman a super nice expensive gift and date or she gets to cut your balls off". And EVERYONE buys into this! WHY? WHY??????

So please ladies. Fight the power. Refuse to participate in Valentine's Day. And this doesn't mean the mantra that damn near every woman in the world says and almost none truly mean, "OhIdon'treallycareaboutValentine'sDayIpromiseit'snobigdeal." I mean, tell him for real you don't want anything more than a card, and if he does get you something, let him know you meant it by refusing to accept it. Encourage your girlfriends to do the same.

What's sad is this used to be a very nice holiday. Now it's a sick and twisted game of oneupmanship that no one enjoys. A pox on Valentine's Day I say. Be Romantic the other 364 days of the year. Let's sit this one out.

Formatting

Real quick everyone, I've added a couple of things to the foundation of the site. I've got a link to a really cool site. It has pictures of the various starships and their dimensions. You can click and drag them on top of each other to get a feel for the scale. It's really cool for any scifi fan. It covers almost every universe; Star Trek, Star Wars, Transformers, Indepenedence Day, real space shuttles, etc. Basically, if it's a ship, it's on there.

Also, my good friend Bo has started up a blog of his own. If you think the various topics we cover here seem totally random, just wait until you check out what Bo likes to write about. His words are truly a look into the mouth of madness.

Anyway, hope everyone had a good Super Bowl. I did, and thanks Jami and Mashard from throwing a bad ass party.

Have fun, be good.

Coupla things...

* It's been suggested that PJ's Place is not as female friendly as it could be. Apparently, it's been suggested that the fairer sex is not that interested in video games, sports, and lists of hot women. I started talking about doing a top five list on what makes women cool, but the person (we'll call her "Nirupa") and I couldn't agree on five things. We settled on this: women smell good. Hell, I'll go with really good.

Except Autumn. Ask Jamie; she thinks she smells funny.

Anyway, I'll try to do some more things for the ladies in the future. But not that much more--I'm staying true to my target market.

* Good luck to Sam today on his first college job interview! We love you Slammy!

* Does anyone like daylight savings time? Even Farmers?

* Heard a good joke the other day: What does it mean when the Post Office Flag is flying at half mast? They're hiring.

* As you may or may not know, I really don't like football. Okay, I hate football. There. I said it. I'm the only heterosexual white American male in the world who hates football. Hunt me down and kill me now. Anyway, even with that being said, any person/organization/etc. who schedules anything for Super Bowl Sunday (other than a Super Bowl party) is a FUCKING IDIOT!!!

* It's official: Ben's gone. :-(

* I've got to admit, I read the Scoop section on MSNBC.com every day. It's the Hollywood Gossip part, for those that don't know what it is. Before you make fun of me too much, it's not to get the Hollywood inside; it's for the FANTASTIC quotes you get from there. It is AMAZING what those idiots will say, and with a straight face! That incredible Paris Hilton quote about privacy came from there. If you want to see that quote again, check back tomorrow.

* Single people, quit bitching about not having a Valentine's Day date. It's not that big of a deal. It IS a Hallmark holiday, and it's about the most expensive day of the year.

* Couples...if you need a holiday like Valentine's Day to get you to be romantic/do something nice with each other, you've got a problem.

* Reminisce sometime. It's fun, and should make you feel better.

* Barry & Robin and Marc & Julie inspire me.

* Any club that charges a $20 cover is going to have wicked expensive drinks inside, too. I don't know why people are surprised by this.

* I forget how good The Fifth Element is.

* I so look forward to getting my Darwin Awards email every year. If you need it, shoot me an email and I'll send it to you.