The Atlanta Hawks

Joe Johnson is the Eastern Conference Player of the Week and the Hawks have won 5 games in a row!

It's a great time to be a Hawks fan!

Four in a Row!

The Hawks beat the Washington Wizards tonight. What a nice way to go into the holiday break! We've won 4 in a row, and we are 2 games over .500. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present from the Hawks. Hopefully they'll keep it up when Indiana comes to town the day after Christmas.

Atlanta Hawks vs. Miami Heat

The Hawks beat the sorry ass Miami Heat tonight. The game went into an overtime that never should have happened, but I'm kind of used to us making games harder than they have to be. There are so many things worth mentioning about this game, that I don't know if I'll have time (or bother) to get to them all.
I have to start somewhere so I may as well start with the facts. The Heat wouldn't have been in the game were it not for the ridiculous amount of free throws they shot all night. I believe they had 24 attempts in the first half. D Wade did his best Finals MVP imitation and shot 22 himself. It was ridiculous. They ended up shooting 49 all together. We shot 38, but we had to play catch up in order to get those. Shaq is old. Zo got hurt and might be done for the season/career. Ricky Davis likes to shoot. That's enough facts.
Just a few thoughts about our 13-12 Atlanta Hawks: We have way too many players sitting on the bench in their Sunday suits. I'm afraid the 9 healthy bodies we have available will be worn out by the All Star break! These injuries are a gift and curse in a way. I think Woody is a better coach because of them. They've taken away his option to do strange things with his substitutions. It's probably just because he doesn't have the players available to screw with whatever is working on the floor, but I'm going to give him a little credit anyway.
Marvin Williams is starting to play like the #2 overall pick. He's been really, really good! No one has been harder on him than I have, but I have to acknowledge the improvements he's made. I'm still not sure the team wouldn't be better off with Chris Paul or Deron Williams, but if Marvin continues to play the way he's been playing, I'll get over myself.
Anthony Johnson has been the second best player on this team the past couple of games. That's a scary thought if you're a Hawks fan. First of all, he's 53 years old and he's playing an obscene amount of minutes. The fact that we need him to play those minutes is troubling. Second, it's unfair to him that we are working him like a mule. He's just months away from getting his AARP card, so we need to get this man some help to make sure his transition into retirement is smooth. Seriously, he's playing like a spry 22 year old. Gotta love that.
The team is over .500 for the first time this late in a season in a long time. I hope our healthy players remain healthy, and our unhealthy players get healthy.

Back From New York, Hawks Win.

I'm back from my summer vacation! I missed quite a few things, but I'll get back in the swing of things soon.
The Hawks beat the Jazz last night. Boozer gave us 39 and 12, but we weathered that storm. The game was too close in the end, but we won and that's all that matters. We only had 9 players dressed and only 8 of them played. Anthony Johnson looked like the Anthony Johnson of 1953. He had his young legs on last night! I think the real Joe Johnson has made his way back to the team. It couldn't have come at a better time. The sorry ass Miami Heat are coming to town Wednesday. That's a game we must win. We're better than they are and we need to play like it.

The Mitchell Report, Useless Senators

So the long awaited Mitchell Report is due out any minute now. Personally, I think this is a waste of time because its not going to change anything when we find out that Barry Bonds wasn't the only player taking steroids. I know that's going to be a shocking development for most media types, but oh well. Word on the street is that Roger Clemens used roids. I've been saying it for 10 damn years! (that's not true) But I have wondered aloud why no one even bothered to consider that he might have. I'll have more on this when the names come out, but just know that I think the whole 2004 Boston Red Sox World Series team got juiced up during the ALCS when they came back and beat my Yankees. None of their names will be listed considering the guy doing the investigation works for them.
John Kerry is up in arms because the game between the Pats and Giants (which is 3 weeks away) won't be seen by those who don't have the NFL network. Basically he thinks that a game of that magnitude should made available to the masses. He's assuming the Pats will be trying to wrap up their pursuit of perfection. Now I see why he lost the Presidency. He's a moron! You mean to tell me that our Senators have NOTHING better to do than worry about a damn football game! Really?? I hope the whole Patriots team tests positive for HGH and they're all suspended so they have to forfeit the game. I'm just sayin.....

Hawks, Petrino, LeBron

The Hawks lost to the Dinosaurs (as one little boy called the Raptors) last night. Fresh off of an Eastern Conference player of the week award Josh was horrible! He was in foul trouble and he turned into that jump shooter that we all know and hate. Not a good look at all for the young fellow. T J Ford was having his way with the Hawks, but unfortunately when the game was winding down, he got a breakaway steal and Al fouled him on the layup attempt and knocked him to floor. He was down about 10 minutes and he had to be taken off on a stretcher. He does have movement in all of his extremities so hopefully he won't miss any real time. It wasn't a dirty play by Al, it was just one those freak incidents. Sam Mitchell ran across the court like he wanted to swing on Al. He don't want it for real. I think Woody could take him, I really do.
Bobby Petrino resigned yesterday. This is not what he signed up for, and I'm sure he figured next year won't be any better than this year so he had to do what he had to do. I'll have more on this later.
LeBron James finally returned to action after missing two months with a sprained finger on his non-shooting hand. Okay, it wasn't really 2 months, but he did miss about 6 games. He might need to toughen up a little bit. I'm sure A I was somewhere shaking his head in disbelief that a little sprained finger could keep this guy out for half the season. I personally think LeBron is tired and he just needed a little break. This was his opportunity to get it.

Random Stuff, Hawks of Course

7 got sentenced to 23 months in prison. I'm sure that's a bit more time than he anticipated when he turned himself in just days before Thanksgiving. Bless his lil heart. His football career might actually be over. Then again, he can lift weights and stay in shape while he's in the joint. It's not like he has anything else to do.
The Patriots beat the Steelers yesterday. I'm totally rooting against the Pats even harder than I was before. I hate forgone conclusions so I don't want them to win the Super Bowl. I'm a hater.
The Hawks take on the Orlando Magic this evening. This would be a great win for us and it would put us at .500. Orlando does look like a great team, but I think we can beat them. That's not just the fan in me talking. I really do think we can beat them. Hopefully our running team will show up in Florida.
Update: We beat the Magic. Josh out Dwight Howarded Dwight Howard, but just by a little bit. The Joe Johnson impersonator had a big game and Shelden Williams even contributed to the win. Tonight they take on the Raptors.

Hawks vs. Wolves

Tonight the Hawks take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. This is a game they absolutely MUST win! A loss should cost someone his job. I'm just sayin......
Update: The Hawks won on a buzzer beater by the Joe Johnson impersonator. As usual they made the game way harder than it had to be, but a win is a win I guess.

Hawks Lose. Again

Sigh. The Hawks lost to the Pistons yesterday. I'm not even going to waste my time telling you all the things they did wrong. Just know they did damn near everything wrong. We're almost 20 games into the season and I'm still not convinced that this team is any better this year than they were last year. The more I watch them the more I realize two things that are very possible. 1) Mike Woodson really doesn't want to coach this team anymore. He can't be as bad as some of his substitutions, play calling, and clock management would lead us to believe. He just can't be! He's obviously trying to get the organization to put him out of his misery. 2) This group of guys are either not really that good, or they're just not really that good together. Sometimes they look like they don't have a damn clue what's going on out there on the court! Even though the coach is bad, he isn't on the court so sometimes they should ignore his genius and do the right thing.
Maybe this team as currently constructed will never be more than a 30 win team. I know a lot of our players have been consistently injured, but so what. The Usual Suspects have been there. Actually, that isn't even true. I don't know who this man is that's been impersonating Joe Johnson this season! The Hawks are only capable of limited success with a great Joe Johnson. There's no way in hell they'll get anywhere if he keeps playing like he's been playing! This team seemingly searches for new ways to disappoint me from game to game. Something needs to change very soon. I told ya'll last season that the Hawks have about 2 more years of my unconditional support. I am not going to be THAT fan forever. I want to see results! I've been patient, but patience doesn't last forever. They do show Chicago Bulls games here in Atlanta, they might get to be my new favorite team. Hell, they should have Kobe in a couple of years and he's one of my favorite players. I wouldn't mind being a Bulls fan at all. I'm near the end of my rope with this hawks team. I'm just sayin............

Sean Taylor

I've been thinking a lot about the Sean Taylor situation and I just can't get past the way the media acted when they found out he was killed. They basically think he had it coming. So, let me make sure I understand this correctly. If you’ve ever had any kind of run-in with the law you should expect to be murdered while someone is trying to burglarize your home. Now I'm really worried about all those speeding tickets I've gotten! That seems a bit ridiculous to me, but if you’ve listened to a lot of the national media, this is exactly the sentiment they expressed surrounding the death of Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor. “Sadly, this doesn’t surprise me”. That’s how several pundits responded before the facts were revealed when asked how they felt about Taylor’s death. I’m shocked that it doesn’t surprise people that four men could break into a man’s home while he and his family are asleep and shoot him over worldly possessions. If it takes more than that to surprise you, then maybe you need to take a long hard look at the kind of life you live and change some things. You're obviously around some effed up situations on a daily basis. Sean Taylor made a questionable decision or two in his life just like most young people do, but that has nothing to do with why he was murdered. He was murdered because of the good things he’d accomplished in life. He played for one of the most revered college football teams ever (The "U") and made himself worthy of being the fifth overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. There are millions of dollars that come along with being drafted so high, and unfortunately those millions of dollars ultimately led to the end of this young man’s life. For a lot of NFL players, being a superb athlete is a gift and a curse. It allows you to take care of yourself and your family, but it also breeds a tremendous amount of envy. It makes a lot of them targets for unscrupulous people who are unwilling to work for the things they want. Four assholes decided to try to steal valuable things from this wealthy man's home. The suspects were under the assumption that Taylor would be away, so I guess you could say he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If being at home asleep is the wrong place, then there is no right place. Pundits have been insisting for years that athletes would be perfectly safe if they just stayed at home away from clubs and parties and etc. That doesn't really seem to be the case here lately considering all of the athletes who have been victimized in their own homes. These men need to really consider getting some sort of protection for themselves. Jealousy leads people to do some crazy things and there are few people who have more haters than professional athletes. Most common-folk think they're overpaid and spoiled. This could very well be true, but don't hate the player, hate the game. When situations like this arise it makes it easier for me to understand why athletes are standoffish. They can never be too careful! Hell, they can't even be asleep at home without the fear of someone trying to come in and do them harm. So the next time you wonder why an athlete has a section of a restaurant roped off, or he has an exclusive party at a club that you can't get into, think about Sean Taylor. He had money and four broke ass dudes felt like they deserved some of it. They didn't, but that doesn't matter now.

Hawks vs. Chris Paul

Chris Paul is coming to Philips Arena tonight to taunt me! I really hate watching him play. Seriously, it pains me! He's exactly the player the Hawks need in order to achieve this elusive running offense they so desire. Instead we have to rely on a player that I'm unable to acknowledge. Point guards like Chris are few and far between, but the people making personnel decisions were more enamored with Marvin Williams. Um, I don't want to say that Marvin isn't as good of a player as Chris, but its quite possible he isn't. Chris has had an impact since his rookie year and he's no worse than the second best player on the Hornets team. He's already one of the best point guards in the league and he's only 3 years in. Meanwhile we're still waiting on the upside to manifest itself permanently in Marvin. Sigh. I'm getting depressed just thinking of how much better our team would be if we'd chosen him. Anyway, we'll see how we fare against the Hornets tonight. They have been playing pretty well this season, so hopefully the Hawks will deem them worthy opponents and put forth a tremendous effort. I wonder if the running team will show up tonight.

Update: We lost.

Hawks Lose

So the Hawks lost to the sorry ass Bulls last night. They are now 0-12 against the Bulls over the past 3 season. This is ridiculous. They gave up 90 points to the Bulls who are the lowest scoring team in the league if I'm not mistaken. Then, they had the nerve to only score 78 points. Where is this running team that they were supposed to be?? Do they only attend certain games? Are they only allowed to speed up the pace once a week? Really, I don't know what the problem is, but dammit they need to fix it. Their offense is ABYSMAL! 90% of their "offensive sets" start from the right side of the court. There's little to no variety! Also, no one in the organization is allowed to mention Speedy Claxton and or his injury in reference to this team. Ever. Eazy Yi (as Slamonline refers to him) and the Bucks are in town tonight. They're coming off of a loss as well so this game should be interesting.

Update: The Hawks beat Eazy Yi and the Bucks. It was a great team effort and they need to play that way more often.

Sean Taylor, Too Much Money

It's a tough day for the University of Miami, Washington Redskins and the NFL as a whole. Sean Taylor a 24 year old safety died today from injuries sustained from a gun shot in the upper leg. He was shot in his home during an alleged robbery. As of now there are no suspects. No matter what the investigation reveals, this is just another senseless death of a young man. It's unfortunate that his teammates have to carry on with business as usual, because as we all know the show must go on.
The Yankees and A-Rod have reached an agreement on a contract that could be worth as much as $300 million if Alex reaches reaches certain incentives. I cannot tell you how pissed I am about this. First of all, what happened to the big bad Steinbrenner proclamation that if he opted out they would not pursue him?? They blinked, and as far as I can tell they didn't have too. There was no market for A-Rod in real life. Yeah he's an MVP and he'll probably go down as the best player statistically in the history of MLB, but he's a diva. Professional athletes are high maintenance, but he takes it to another level. Second, I don't know why in the hell the Yankees offered him as much money as they did. It's not like he had a contract offer from any other team as evidenced by the fact that he came crawling back after opting out at the first available chance. They should have offered him a contract in the $100 million range as opposed to the $300 million range. They were bidding against NO ONE! All this means is that we will have at least 10 more years of not winning a World Series. I'd never wish bad on a player, but let me just say I hope A-Rod decides to retire next year.
Allegedly the Yankees and Twins are in preliminary talks about a trade involving Johan Santana. If this happens.............
Anderson Varajoe or however the hell you spell his name, says he doesn't want to play for the Cavs anymore because they aren't treating him fairly. See this is why professional sports franchises need more women in charge. They need someone who will tell Andy that he's not nearly as good as he thinks he is. Seriously, when people talk about his strengths, they include things that damn near anyone can bring. He's an energy guy, nothing more. He has a chance to play alongside a guy in LeBron James who is about to average a triple double. Know your role Andy! I hope he goes to another team and gets a big dose of reality.

Hawks Win!

Yay, the Hawks finally got their first road win of the season! It came against the sorry ass Miami Heat. I know they won't continue to play this poorly throughout the season, but for right now they really are sorry as hell. Told ya we wouldn't lose to the sorry ass Heat EBOY! The Hawks found themselves down by 10 heading into the 4th quarter, but I guess they decided they really wanted to win the game so they did. It was a hard fought game. Joe was big late in the fourth quarter. He hit two big 3 pointers when they all but dared him to shoot. The biggest play of the night was when Josh Smith blocked D Wade's shot with about 5 seconds to go. It was perfectly timed!
I still don't trust Mike Woodson or this team in the clutch because there were a couple of possessions late in the game where Joe didn't even touch the ball. That can't happen. If he's on the floor he's always the best option. Josh also called their last timeout with just under a minute remaining. He was in a bit of a jam, but still.... Anyway, they won so I guess all is well. Next up is Minnesota on Saturday, hopefully they'll come up with a win.

Gilbert Arenas is going to miss 3 months following knee surgery. He should have waited a little longer before returning obviously. When will these athletes learn??
Priest Holmes retired today. He was about 2 years overdue. He had a great career all things considered.....

Mike Woodson Is Killing Me.

So the Hawks are really, really getting on my nerves! They got beat by the Spurs which is not a big surprise, but it's the way they lose that irks me to no end! First of all, the coach doesn't know how to manage his timeouts. He lets the other team build on a lead until it's damn near insurmountable before he calls a timeout. Who the hell does he think he is? Phil Jackson! That strategy doesn't work with bad teams, so there's no way in hell its going to work with the Spurs. Let's not even talk about how clock management or lack thereof is just as bad among the players. They didn't even have the presence of mind to get a 2 for 1 at the end of the 1st quarter when there were 39 seconds left. Nope, they dribbled and passed the ball around til there were 25 seconds left, then a penalty of some sort was called. I mean come on, it doesn't take a coach to know that you should try to get 2 possessions before the quarter ended.

Let's not even talk about their defense. Seriously, they all but escorted Tony Parker down the lane to the basket. They let Gino get to the rim at will as well. They just didn't do anything right. Yes they were without a few players, but that's no excuse for the lack of defense and the mental errors. If Woody makes it to the All Star Break I'll be more than surprised! He hasn't had a lot to work with, but its so obvious he isn't a good coach. 60% of the time the team isn't ready to play. They make too many mistakes that are the direct result of bad coaching or lack of coaching. Woody and the crew seem to be absolutely clueless. Somethings gotta give.

Random Stuff

Here's a real quick rundown of the days games:
The Celtics lost their first game of the season to the Magic.
Bobby Petrino has some splainin' to do. Falcons lost to the Bucs behind Byron Leftwich. Falcons fans were literally chanting for Joey Harrington. Yeah, it's that bad. He should have started anyway considering he'd won the last 2 games and Byron hadn't played in like 3 weeks. Bobby must really miss college. Not to worry though, if he keeps making decisions like this he'll be back there soon enough.
The Jags beat the Chargers.
Cowboys beat the Skins. T O is good.
Eagles beat the Dolphins. McNabb left the game in the 2nd with a sprained ankle.
Browns beat the Ravens.
Rams beat the Niners.
Pats are beating the Bills. Moss is good.
Seahawks beat the Bears.
Colts barely beat the Chiefs.
Steelers lost to the Jets. Mike Tomlin is still handsome.
Giants beat the Lions.
Packers beat the Panthers.
Cardinals beat the Bengals. Cincy is unbelievably bad.

Tom Glavine will return to the Braves. If this were the 90's that would be a big deal.
Not that you care, for the record I don't either, but Jimmie Johnson won the Nascar Nextel Cup Championship or whatever the hell its called. I can't think of a more unwatchable sport than Nascar. They're probably the reason gas prices are so damn high. I'm sure that's not true, but I'm just sayin......

My Fan Crush Did Us In!

Sigh. The Hawks lost a thriller to the Sonics in Philips Arena tonight. Double OT, it just doesn't get much better! I don't even know where to begin. Obviously they were at a slight disadvantage being without Josh Smith and Acie Law IV, but the Sonics had only one win coming into the night so this was a winnable game. As a matter of fact, if you're the Hawks you have to win this game. Seattle is not a very good team, no matter how you slice it. The Hawks seem to have a problem winning the games they're supposed to win. Seriously, they need to get it together. There were a lot of good things that happened tonight for both teams. Damien Wilkins (Nique's nephew) whose averaging 14 points this season scored 41 points. In fairness to the Hawks, he was just feeling himself tonight. He hit 15-20 shot attempts. There's nothing you can do about that. Really, don't beat yourselves up about it. Kevin Durant (my fan crush) hit the game winning three pointer so it doesn't really matter what he did the previous 57 minutes, 58 seconds. As far as the Hawks are concerned, the usual suspects showed up for the team tonight. Joe was Joe. He didn't have a particularly good shooting night, but he did hit some big shots when they needed them. Chills was very good, he had 22 and 10 before he fouled out. He unfortunately missed what could have been a game winning free throw, but that's life. Marvin was good, he had 18 and 7 before he fouled out. Fouls were a problem for the Hawks, but I'll get to that momentarily.

There were plenty of bad things that happened as well. I'll just focus on the Hawks for this portion. Let's start with coaching. Woody did so many bad things tonight its almost unfair to just point out a few. Let's just say he needs to work on his strategies and leave it at that. That's a vague enough and broad enough assessment of Woody's problems. He's on the verge of coaching himself back into an Assistant's position.

The Refs were horrible. I don't even feel like getting into the particulars, but know that damn near all of the Hawks players were in danger of fouling out and 2 of their best actually accomplished it.

There are a ton of things I could say about this game, but I honestly don't want to dwell too much on it considering they have another game tomorrow. Let's just hope they fair better against Eazy Yi (as Mutoni refers to him) and the Bucks.

The Jig Is Up

After four long years, the Grand Jury FINALLY indicted Barry Bonds. They weren't going to give up on getting him. Ever.

Hawks, The Commisioner, A-Rod

Hawks win! They beat the Bobcats 117 to 109. This is a big win because the Bobcats have owned the Hawks since they entered the league. It's kind of strange, but its true. Unfortunately Josh Smith and Acie Law IV had to leave the game with injuries. (Are you happy EBoy?) They're both listed as day to day. There is a lot of depth on the team, but make no mistake, the Hawks need them! Josh is under appreciated and if he misses any real time everyone will realize that. Joe was fantastic tonight! He had 34 points, and 11 assists. Marvin had another very good game. Maybe this will become so routine that I won't have to mention it, all I'll have to say is Marvin was Marvin. Chills had 23 points and Horford added 13 points and 13 boards. If he averages a double, double he might make a run at ol' Kevin Durant for Rookie Of the Year. It's way too early to talk about awards, but I just want to put it out there. Speaking of Kevin Durant, he's coming to Philips on Friday so He and Al will get to go head to head. I have a fan crush on Kevin Durant, so I'll be paying close attention to this game considering it will be his only trip to Atlanta this season.
T-Mac got hurt. he's just like his cousin.
D Wade came back, but it didn't matter. The Heat still lost to the Sonics. The Heat kind of suck.

There's a report that there was a proposed trade between the Pistons and Lakers that would have sent Rip, Tay, some other dude and a first round draft pick to the Lakers for Kobe. Kobe supposedly vetoed this trade. I don't know why because I think this trade would be a good look for Kobe since Chauncey, Sheed, Dyess, and Maxiell will still be there. Unfortunately Flip Saunders will still be the coach in the playoffs so all of their hard work will go for naught. Anyway, the fact that Kobe has THIS much control over the league leads me to believe I need to refer to him as The Commissioner. He literally has more control than the GM trading him and the GM trading for him. I can't believe he has this much power, but more power to him and whoever negotiated his contract.

The Yankees are reportedly willing to negotiate with A-Rod again if, and only if Scott Boras isn't involved. Sigh. I want A-Rod to go! I told ya'll he was dead to me after his abysmal playoff performance and I'm so for real. Plus, if Alex is dumb enough to keep his agent out of negotiations for his LAST big contract, then the Yankees shouldn't want him anyway because he's clearly an idiot!

Ricky Williams has been reinstated to the NFL. I'll bet money he'll be suspended again for violating the substance abuse policy. He's damn near a fiend.

Hawks, NFL Stuff.

So the Hawks lost to the 0-5 Wizards today. They seem to play to the level of their competition and they need to cut that ish out. You can't go out and beat 2 of the best teams in the league then lose to an 0-5 team and say you have playoff aspirations. Not to say that the Wizards won't turn it around because I certainly believe they're better than they've shown, but the Hawks have to learn to kick a team when they're down. You have to beat teams that you should beat if you want to contend for a playoff spot. They shot way too many jumpers and their offensive rebounding left a lot to be desired. This is why I really wouldn't be surprised if this team won 25 games or 45 games. They're so inconsistent that I honestly don't know what to expect from them from game to game. Woody has still shown no ability to make adjustments or take advantage of mismatches. He'd better get it together because he's not unfirable (probably not a word) anymore considering people actually have expectations for this team. The biggest problem with everyone's expectations are the fact that they are centered around the 2 rookies making an immediate impact. Horford has been very good and Law is doing his best, but we may be asking a bit much from them. We'll see where things stand at the end of the month and hopefully we'll know if this is a new and improved team or if they're the same old Hawks. Moving on.
Peyton Manning threw 6 interceptions tonight. Seriously he kept both teams in the game. I could go into detail, but he threw 6 interceptions and that's all you really need to know.
The Steelers beat the Browns.
The Bears beat the Raiders. Brian Griese got hurt and Rex Grossman came in and saved the day. I'm serious, he really did.
The Eagles beat the Skins.
The Cowboys beat the Giants. T O is good.
The Bengals beat the Ravens. Steve McNair is old.
Denver beat K C.
Buffalo beat Miami. Apparently they're still in contention in the AFC East. Right.
Green Bay beat Minny. No 300 yard rushing game for A P.
The Falcons beat the Panthers.
St Louis got their first win over the Saints. Yay for them.

K G

So Kevin Garnett took it upon himself to absolutely destroy my poor Hawks! He had 20+ points and 19 rebounds. He was a beast. Paul Pierce who almost goes unnoticed (at least by me) now that KG is there had a quiet 20+ points. One of Steve Smith's 3 pointers for the Hawks to focus on was to stop one of the big 3. Well the Hawks did that, sort of. They didn't let Ray Ray get off, but Eddie House decided to channel his inner Jesus Shuttlesworth and he picked up the slack. There wasn't a Hawk who did anything worth talking about. I've already said too much.
Next up is Washington and they're 0-5 so in theory the Hawks should have the upper hand, but you never know with this group.

Hawks Beat Another Western Powerhouse

The Hawks beat up on the Suns tonight. They are knocking those Western Conference powerhouses out one by one. Joe Johnson did not have a particularly good offensive night, but he kept everyone involved and he ended up with double digit assists. Josh Smith had a hell of a night, 22 points, 10 rebounds, 4 asst, 4 stls and 5 blocks. Pay him please! Marvin Williams showed us some of that upside we've been waiting. for. He has perfected his mid-range jump shot and I'll be fine if that's the only shot he takes. Al Horford was a beast on the boards as well. Overall the Hawks out rebounded the Suns 56-40.
Steve Nash was fantastic for the most part, but he did have a couple of killer turnovers. We'll take it though. They play Boston on Friday, I'd love for them to put the smack down on the Eastern Conference favorites!

Hawks Lose

The Hawks lost to the Pistons 91-92. They had plenty of opportunities to win the game, but in the end a couple of mental mistakes cost them. Josh Smith turned the ball over a gazillion times by himself, but he atoned for it by making 3 straight free throws to tie the game with only a few seconds left.

Marvin had 2 bad fouls at the end of the game, especially the one that put Chauncey on the line to seal the deal for Detroit, but that's neither here nor there. Detroit is the measuring stick in the East and my boys hung in there with them even though they came out swinging. They play the Nets on Tuesday, hopefully they'll come back to Atlanta with a win before they have to face the Suns on Wednesday. By the way, Joe Johnson is really good and he makes it look so easy.

Hawks Win! Scott Boras has lost his damn mind!

The Atlanta Hawks won their season opener against the Dallas Mavericks! Yay! Joe was fantastic and the rookies looked really good as well. They played hard from start to finish and that's all we really want. That and a trip to the playoffs.

There were a lot of other games in the Association, but I really don't feel like talking about them. I have more important things to discuss.

Apparently the Yankees were told in order to meet with A-Rod they needed to be prepared to offer $350 million. I got hold of the transcript of how that conversation went down.

Phone rings: Don't be surprised if she ask where da cash at. Where da, where da cash at, where da cash at? Don't be surprised if she ask where da cash at. (personal ringtone for Scott Boras)
Cashman: How much, and for how long?
Boras: Well hello to you too Brian!
Cashman: Come on Scott, I have shit to do.
Boras: Well, we're thinking we'll start the bidding at $350 million.
Click.
Boras: Hello, Brian are you still there? Hellllloooooooo!

I can't make this stuff up people. I swear!

World Series, Best Game Ever (at least that's what most people are hoping)

The Boston Red Sox finished off their sweep of the Rockies to win the World Series. They were the best team all season and it held up in the post-season. As a Yankees fan, it disgusts me, but I totally respect all they had to overcome to win it this year.
A-Rod opted out of his contract because he didn't know what the team was going to do with Mo, Jorge and Andy. Yeah right. He opted out because his agent told him he could get him $30 million per year. Let's be serious here Alex. It's not like the Yankees have won a ring or even been to the damn World Series with him, so I actually couldn't care less that he's leaving.
Giants beat the Dolphins.
Eagles beat the Vikings.
Chargers beat the Texans.
Browns beat the Rams.
Bills beat the Jets.
Steelers beat the Bengals.
Saints beat the Niners.
Jags beat the Bucs.
Titans beat the Raiders
Colts beat the Panthers
Pats beat the hell out of the Skins.

Let the hype begin! Peyton vs Brady. Both teams undefeated. I might not turn to ESPN for 2 weeks. If you thought the hype surrounding the Pats/Cowboys game was unbearable, wait until they finish with this Pats/Colts game. At least there's actually something on the line in this game. They'll probably meet in the postseason and the winner will have home-field advantage. On an unrelated note, the Pats are pushing it leaving Brady in blowout games late. He could get hurt and I'm not talking about by accident. When you have a 45 point lead, there's no reason to have your starting quarterback in the game. New England is going to try to embarrass the wrong group of players and they are going to find themselves without Tom Brady for the rest of the season. The bad thing about it is that it's only going to cost some team a 15 yard penalty in a game they aren't going to win anyway. I hope it doesn't happen, but it might.

Atlanta Hawks 2007-2008 Season Preview

I got a part to play, we going hard these days, f*ck the harder way, we doing it the harder way.-Talib Kweli (Going Hard)

The Atlanta Hawks have been doing it the harder way for far too long! It can’t be that difficult to field a competitive team, it just can’t. The front office is dubious at best; therefore the team is an enigma. They’re one of the only teams that can give up 2 first round picks and a player in the process of overpaying a free agent by about $15 million. Joe Johnson was a very good player in Phoenix, but the signing hasn’t done much good for the Hawks thus far. For instance, the owners who can’t seem to agree on anything are still at war with each other over this deal. It’s not that Belkin didn’t want Joe; it’s just that he thought they were giving up way too much to get a player that Phoenix wasn’t going to resign anyway. Two first round picks and Boris Diaw did seem like a bit much at the time, but the team needed to do something to at least create the illusion that they’re trying to win. Could another GM have pulled this deal off for less? Hell yeah, but we’re dealing with Billy Knight, one of the most smug individuals you’ll ever come across. He literally thinks he’s smarter than EVEYRONE! Hell, he’s still wearing a nappy ass afro/flat top. I don’t even know how you can pull this hairstyle off, but he’s been doing it for years. Why the hell would anyone trust him to make multi-million dollar personnel decisions when he’s still living somewhere between the years 1973-1993? Its mind boggling I tell ya.

For years this team REFUSED to address the point guard situation/overall talent of the roster. The draft picks they made in the 2 years prior to this draft made absolutely no sense. Marvin Williams was touted as the best player in the 2005 draft. Yep, he was supposed to be better than Chris Paul (the eventual Rookie of the Year) and Deron Williams (has a great John Stockton impersonation). Never mind the fact that the Hawks desperately needed a point guard and already had a plethora of guys on the roster between 6-7 and 6-9. Billy would eventually address that point guard situation by signing Speedy Claxton. I won’t go into detail, but they overpaid him by about $25 million. Anyway, Marvin was supposed to be the best available player and that’s who you’re supposed to draft. At least that’s what Billy kept telling us. Today its not looking like Marvin fits that description, but you never know. It’s too early to close the book on him because we honestly don’t know what he’s capable of. He could be the next great forward or he could be a serviceable bench player. Hopefully going into year 3 he’ll be healthy long enough for us to get an idea of what his ceiling is.

The 2005 draft made even less sense than the 2004 draft because THIS was the draft when Billy Knight decided to set aside his unlimited basketball knowledge and actually draft a player based upon need. Are you f*cking kidding me? THIS is the draft you decide to get a player you need! This draft class was kind of weak, so it was clear that Brandon Roy was the pick of the litter. Yeah he’s kind of a “tweener”, but he was good at what he did. With the 5th pick, Billy Knight in all of his genius decided to draft Shelden Williams. a.k.a. “The Landlord”. Now it’s one thing to be a defensive stopper in college at 6-9, but only the best of the best can pull that off in the NBA at such a height. Shelden is not that player. Billy told us he was going to shut down that lay-up drill lane the Hawks had been rolling with for the past few years. He didn’t do such a good job. Players were all but being escorted down the lane by secret service agents against the Hawks during most games. Only Billy Knight could talk himself into believing that a player who is a replica of half of the roster he already had was going to come in and shut down the lane. Maybe he’ll be better this year. He was a beast in the Summer League and we all know that means…………absolutely nothing.

We haven’t even discussed poor Mike Woodson. I hate to drag him into this because he walked into a no win situation, but his record is awful! He won 13 games in his first season, 26 games in his second season and 30 games last season. I want to reiterate that the roster he inherited was f*cked up, but something’s gotta give. Either he or the owners have to blink if the Hawks don’t make the playoffs this season. Not because they have so much talent on the roster that there’s no reason they shouldn’t make the playoffs, but because he’s been there 3 seasons and he doesn’t even have one full season of victories to his credit. I honestly don’t understand how someone who’s only won 69 games in a total of 3 years can still be gainfully employed by an NBA team. I don’t care how flawed the roster is; good coaches put their players in position to be successful. Whether or not they take them up on that offer is another story for another day. I’ve been watching this Mike Woodson offense for 3 years and I still have no idea what the hell they’re trying to accomplish. They’re a small team full of finishers so they should be playing a wee bit faster than they have been. He’s insisted on running this half court offense despite the fact that they don’t have the personnel to pull it off. It’s not fair to the fans or Joe when he has to run the pick and roll with someone like Lorenzon Wright or Shelden Williams. That’s just wrong on so many levels. Josh Smith is good around the basket, but unfortunately he likes to shoot three’s. Heaven help them if he makes a three pointer early in the game because he won’t go near the basket again unless it’s on a fast break. There are too many reports during the year about the tumultuous relationship between Josh and Woody and even Salim and Woody. I know you can’t let the prisoners run the asylum, but I’m sure if you poll the fans about who they’re coming to Philips Arena to see, they won’t say Mike Woodson. They’ll probably say LeBron if they’re playing Cleveland, or Kobe if they’re playing the Lakers and so forth and so on…. The point is they won’t say Woody. If it comes down to a decision between Woody or Josh, we can only hope Billy will do the right thing and choose Josh. To most of us this is a no brainer, but they’ve yet to give Josh a contract extension and he’s in the final year of his deal. The fact that they’re even willing to let him hit the market worries me because they’re cheap as hell. They don’t think he’s worth $70 million so if a team offers him more than that they probably won’t match it. If Josh leaves that will give Woody a whole new list of problems and trust me he doesn’t need anything else to worry about. I’d love to think if there isn’t significant improvement in the team they’ll look for another coach, but Woody is Billy’s boy, so he might get an extension no matter what the team does.

New Year, new record, time to do bigger sh*t.-Talib Kweli (Put it in the air)

It’s a new year so that means there are new expectations of this team. They drafted Al Horford and Acie LawIV, and both have a winning mentality. Horford is a back to back NCAA champion while Law is a stone cold killer in late game situations. The consensus leading up to the draft was that Horford was the most NBA ready. The Hawks desperately need that to be true. They’ve been thin in the frontcourt for years. Any help he can provide is greatly appreciated. Law is not looked at as a typical pass first point guard, but if he can manage the game they’ll take it. The team is still literally young in a lot of areas, but some of these younguns have been in the league for several years. They might as well be grizzled vets as far as the NBA is concerned. They can’t use that “youngest team in the league” excuse anymore. That’s so five minutes ago. This is a make or break season for the Hawks as currently constructed. The draft can’t save them next year because Phoenix gets their first round pick whether its number 1 or number 20. This year we should see some kind of improvement in this team. The city of Atlanta is not going to continue to support this team if they insist on putting an inferio…wait; the city doesn’t support this team right now. I know everyone thinks you’re supposed to support your team no matter what, but I think the people in Atlanta have the right idea. Why should they spend their hard earned money to come to Philips and watch a losing team? It makes no sense. Anyway, the East is still relatively weak and I expect the Hawks to be right in the thick of the playoff hunt come March. That shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish considering damn near everyone in the East is normally right in the thick of the playoff hunt in March. Are they 10-12 wins better than last season? Probably not, but I certainly hope so.

Red Sux, Random NFL Stuff

Wow, I haven't posted anything in a week. I don't even have a good reason for it unless utter laziness is good enough for you.

The Red Sox came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Cleveland Indians. The aces for the Indians sucked big time! Boston's line-up had a field day with them. There's no scenario where you can count out those pesky Red Sox. They just won't quit. I'd admire it if it were any other team, but since it's the Red Sox it aggravates me. I hope the Rockies sweep them.

The Eagles lost to the Bears. They were smart enough not to kick the ball to Devin Hester, but in the end it didn't matter since their offense was so putrid.

The Cowboys beat the Vikings. They keep playing bad teams who have them on the ropes, but insist on losing. Everyone else likes to think the Cowboys just find ways to win, but I say teams find ways to lose against them. I love Tavarus Jackson and I'm proud of him for making it to the league, but the Vikings might need to start grooming someone else to hand their franchise over to. He doesn't have the swagger of a winner and that's just as important as ability. A lot of times he doesn't look like he has much of that either.

The Falcons lost to the Saints. Byron Leftwich got the start and then got hurt in the beginning of the second half. The Falcons can't win for losing. Literally. They need to play the younguns and see what they're capable of because this season is so over for them.

The Pats beat the Dolphins (yawn)

The Giants beat the Niners.

The Broncos beat the Steelers. Great game, and Mike Tomlin looks good in a skull cap.

The Bengals beat the Jets. Chad Pennington might get benched behind that loss. In fairness to him, he isn't the only problem with the Jets. He will take the biggest fall for it though.

The Bills beat the Ravens (yawn)

The Seahawks beat the Rams (yawn)

The Redskins beat the Cardinals (yawn)

The Titans beat the Texans without Vince Young. Madden Jinx is the official injury, but they have it listed as a sprained quad.

Random NFL Stuff

I'm soooooooooooo glad the New England Dallas game is over! ESPN in true ESPN fashion over hyped the hell out of this game! They must have dedicated 30 minutes per Sportscenter episode talking about both of these teams. I just don't understand why. Well I guess I do understand a little. Tom Brady is America's favorite "baby daddy" and Tony Romo is a little media darling, but still. This game won't mean shit at the end of the season. No one won home field advantage if they meet in the playoffs, (which they won't unless it's the Super Bowl) so in the grand scheme of things it was just another regular season game. The fact that they were both undefeated is cute, but it's only the 6th game of the season. Had they both been 10-0 or something I would have been able to understand the hype a little more. Everyone knew Dallas was not going to win that game, I don't even know why we had to spend 2 weeks pretending it was going to be a toss up.
The Saints finally won a game. Bless their Hearts.
St. Louis is still win less and now quarterbackless since their genius head coach insisted on running real plays even though they were down by 19 points. Mark Bulger was already hurt, now Gus Frerote (not sure about the spelling, not gonna look it up) is hurt. Idiots.
Miami still sucks. Trent Green is mulling retirement. Seriously, your team sucks and you were there sucking with them for 4 games, so it's not like your presence is going to change anything. Stay home and play with your kids.
Cincy still sucks. KC won
Braylon Edwards is a cutie and he caught 3 touchdowns for the Browns.
The J E T S still suck. Philly won.
Green Bay beat Washington, Brett threw a couple of interceptions. He's coming back to his old self. He set the NFL record for interceptions. Congratulations.
San Diego beat Oakland. L T scored all 4 of their touchdowns. He's coming around slowly but surely.
Tennessee lost and Vince Young got hurt early. Is it the Madden jinx??? We shall see.
Jax beat Houston.
Chicago lost to Minnesota. Adrian Peterson ran all over the Bears defense! Devin Hester returned a punt for a touchdown and he caught one as a receiver. They clearly need to find ways to incorporate him into their offense more often. At some point teams need to look into kicking to someone other than him. That would take away at least 7 points from Chicago.
The Rockies are one win away from going to the World Series. They have to be the favorite to win it all at this point.
I'm just sayin........

The State of the Yankees

I've had a couple of days to think about the demise of my favorite team and now I'm ready to vent. This might be one of those times where the post doesn't flow as well as others, but stay with me. I've made mention of pretty much everything I'm about to make mention of now in previous posts. It needs to be said again and again until something changes.

Joe Torre is going to be made available to the job market this winter and I have mixed feelings about that. They haven't won it all in a few years, but you cannot just discount what this man has done for that franchise. He's been to 6 World Series and he's won 4 of them. The team hasn't missed the post season with him at the helm, yet the Boss is ready to just let him go because they didn't win it all this season. It's kind of crazy when you think about it. I don't know of any fan base other than the Yankees fans who wouldn't be satisfied with this man's resume`. For most fans it's not World Series or bust, but not Yankees fans. We want it all. This ain't horseshoes! Almost doesn't count! Maybe our unrealistic expectations are contributing to the Boss's decision to turn over a new leaf. Owners (good owners) are all about pleasing the fans. What if we're wrong though?

On the other hand, Joe has been there many, many years so maybe it's time for a new voice. Maybe they have gone as far as they can go with him and obviously 4 World Series wins isn't far enough.

This is a little off the subject, but I think it's very relevant. People often say things like "he should be able to go out on his own terms" about college coaches like Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden because they made their college football programs what they are today. Why don't they say the same things about pro coaches? I never understood that logic to be honest. Just because you built the program up you're entitled to stay way past your coaching prime and run it right back into the ground if you see fit.?. I just don't understand how college coaching legends can be unfireable (probably not a word), but someone like Joe Torre isn't given such a courtesy by the media. It's not about the money, because college coaches are just as well paid as professional coaches. So really, what's the difference? I know Joe Torre didn't build up the Yankees franchise, but he's won 4 championships and kept the team in realistic contention the other years. Should he not be able to go out on his own terms?

No one is talking about Brian Cashman or the Boss for that matter. Let's look at some of the people on the roster who had a no trade clause in their contract the past couple of seasons. Jeter, A-Rod, Posada, Damon, Matsui, Giambi, Carl Pavano ( I hate mentioning his name) There's no way to improve the team because you can't trade anydamnbody without their consent. Brian Cashman or the Boss (I'm not sure who's really behind all these moves) put the team at a disadvantage because nobody is movable. They all have no trade clauses and on top of that, they're disgustingly overpaid! Even if you could convince someone to take them and their bloated salaries you'd still have to get them to sign off on it and that's easier said than done. That's no way to run your business. Everyone doesn't deserve a no trade clause and for an owner with the highest expectations he should know better.

It's not all Joe's fault that the team has failed recently. There are some flaws on the roster that they're able to hide April thru September, but there's no hiding in October. The fact is that the team is stuck with a lot of these players. The same players who have come up short in the playoffs the past few seasons. So how does the team get better? The only players they can trade are players that they can't trade! They can't or shall I say shouldn't trade Cano, Wang, Cabrera, Hughes, Duncan or Chamberlain. Basically, the team that has failed us these past couple of years is the same team that's going to fail us in the next couple of years. (minus A-Rod certainly, Posada and Rivera probably) The Boss and the fans are way too impatient to go through a real youth movement, so I suppose we Yankees fans better find a way to get satisfied with being knocked out in the first round. Hell, Braves fans have been doing it for years.

The End of an Era

Its finally over. The Joe Torre era, the A-Rod era, the Rocket era, the Pettite era (possibly) the Rivera era (possibly) the Posada era (possibly). Yep, its all over. Those are some old ass dudes anyway. I think the Yankees are about to be officially engulfed in a "youth movement". The Indians youthful exuberance proved to be too much for the pinstripes. The 2-6 hitters are all dead to me, at least until next season.

Tony Romo threw 5 interceptions and lost a fumble and the damn Cowboys still won! If they had been playing anyone other than the Bills they probably would have lost. They were clearly looking ahead to next week's game against New England. Both teams are undefeated, but something's gotta give.

Yankees, Random Football Stuff

Yankees won. They're still down 2-1 but at least they didn't get swept like Chicago, Philly and Los Angeles/Anaheim. The Rocket tried to do us in, but Phil Hughes came out and saved the season for at least one more day. The Boss says if Joe loses this series he's out of there. What's new?

The Saints suck. Still. Is Sean Payton still a genius?

The J E T S suck. Is Eric Mangini still a genius?

The Chargers finally won another game. Their division is extremely weak this year so they are still very much in playoff contention.

The Pats and Colts are still undefeated. (yawn)

The Steelers beat the Seahawks and in all of the highlights no one cut away to Mike Tomlin on the sideline. How dare they deprive the ladies of getting a glimpse of him in those shades?

Trent Green suffered another concussion. Where is his wife or parents or brother or sister or somedamnbody to tell him to stop? Seriously, he needs to stop!

The Falcons lost to the Titans and they did it behind Joey Harrington and Byron Leftwich. They had several chances to win the game, but they never took advantage of their opportunities. Vince played horribly, but not as horribly as the Falcons one/two punch at QB.

The Bears beat the Packers for their second win of the season. Brett showed us the Brett of old in the second half. He was trying those little flip passes and throwing into places he shouldn't have. He only threw 2 picks though. That's a good day for him.

Matt Leinart broke his collarbone. That's too bad because just the other day he proclaimed that the team should ride or die with him. It looks like they'll have to ride or die with Kurt Warner for the foreseeable future.

The Redskins beat the Lions. I thought Detroit was for real. That's what everyone said when they were 2-0. They're not looking so good right now. They don't deserve to be winners ever after the way they treated Barry. It's karma.

0-2

A-Rod is dead to me.

Random Stuff

So the Yanks got spanked by the Indians tonight 12-3. C.C. Sabathia was pretty damn good tonight and Wang was not. He's dead to me. LeBron James was there and he was wearing a Yankees cap. I thought he might go to the game, but I didn't think he'd wear a Yankees cap. People are outraged about his allegiance to New York and I really don't understand why. Who the hell cares who LeBron is cheering for?? Is it going to affect the outcome of this series? I doubt it.

The Phillies and Cubs are in trouble now. The Phillies are down 0-2. They can come back, but the way the Rockies and are playing right now it ain't lookin good. The Cubs are down as I type this, but if they somehow win this game, I'll amend this post in the morning.

Marion Jones admitted to using steroids. Let's just say you aren't knocking anyone over with a feather because of that confession.

The Falcons began their attempts to recoup $22 million dollars from Mr. Vick. The NFLPA says Mr. Vick is protected by the CBA. I don't know the details of the CBA and at this point I don't care. I'm just shocked the NFLPA is arguing on behalf of one of it's players.

MLB Playoffs

The Rockies stole home field advantage from the Phillies this afternoon.

The Red Sux beat up on the Angels. This series is a tricky one for me because as a Yankees fan I hate the Red Sux, but I'm well aware of our struggles against the Angels. I don't know who I want to lose this series more. Yes I'm assuming we'll beat the Indians. Anyway, I think my hate for the Red Sux supersedes everything else, but the Angels are beat the hell up. They'll probably get swept.

The Cubbies lost to the Diamondbacks. This isn't that big of a deal since the D'backs do have home field advantage. The Cubs will have to win in Arizona at some point though. Arizona has a player named Chris Young who is an absolute cutie. How could MLB hide him from me all season. Unforgivable! Hell to be honest, when I heard any mention of him I just assumed he was caucasian. I was shocked to find out he's colored! I'm not shocked because of his name, I'm shocked because of the lack of colored players in MLB right now. I was just as shocked a couple of years ago when I found out Khalil Greene was white. Making assumptions about someones race based on their name isn't just a problem in Corporate America. I know it's wrong, but if you heard the name Khalil Greene and you hadn't seen him you probably would have assumed he was colored too. I'm just sayin.....

Precious Rehabilitated Pits, Super Classy Pats

What a day! Not really, but it sounds good. Anyway, some things have happened lately that perplex the hell out of me.
For starters, the people holding the 49 dogs in the Mike Vick dog fighting scandal are convinced that all but 1 of them can be placed with new owners. Um, all I have to say is if you get one of those dogs and it attacks or kills you then you deserve it. It's debatable whether or not Pits are naturally aggressive, but you've got to be a damn fool if you bring one of those dogs into your home! You already know what their history is, so you know there's the potential that they could snap and you have no idea what might trigger it. These dogs have been trained to kill and I just don't think they're going to lose those instincts in a matter of months. All of this is potentially bad news for Mr. Vick. Let's say John Doe gets one of these precious rehabilitated Pit Bulls and all goes well for a few weeks. Then, all of a sudden this precious rehabilitated Pit snaps and attacks John Doe, but thankfully he lives. There will be a civil suit against one Mr.Vick. I'm not a lawyer, but please believe you can sue anybody in this damn country. People are suing God for God's sake! The minute one of these precious rehabilitated Pits attacks or kills someone they'll be trying to hold Mr. Vick liable. Just wait and see. They won't go after the animal shelter that reassured them that these dogs were precious and rehabilitated, they'll go straight for Mr. Vick. Everyone assumes he's made of money but the people who work in these shelters which is a thankless low paying job (allegedly, I don't know one way or the other) are not. Even though logically it would make more sense to go after the shelter, they'll trust their gut and go after Mr. Vick for a few million dollars which should end all of their pain and suffering. Hopefully none of this will come to fruition, but the possibility is certainly there. I hope no children are injured, but to the adult that brings this precious rehabilitated Pit who has a history of violence into his or her home, you deserve whatever happens to you. When you have the 2007 version of Cujo on your hands, just remember you asked for it!
I was listening to Colin Cowherd today (don't ever do this) and he went on this diatribe about how classy the Pats are and how unclassy the Bengals are. Now we all know a lot of the Bengals are far from being choir boys, but to get on national radio and act like the Pats are infallible just because half of them haven't been arrested recently is absurd. We've all done some questionable things in our pasts, maybe nothing illegal but I'm sure you've done some things you aren't proud of. The Pats are no different. Hell, Tom Brady is a "baby daddy", but for some reason him knocking up a girl who lives 3000 miles away just doesn't seem to be a bad thing. That's real classy. Never mind the fact that he won't be a part of this child's life for 7 months at a time unless his baby momma packs up her shit and travels to New England to ensure that he has a chance to be an involved dad. It doesn't really matter though because he wins games. Bill Belichick was misinterpreting NFL rules about videotaping other teams in between committing adultery. Yeah that wreaks of class! Rodney Harrison has been busted for using illegal steroids as far back as the 2004 Super Bowl. There are but a handful of people who are as classy as he is. Let's not forget about ol' Randy and his issues. It's amazing how you can go from problem child/clubhouse cancer to consummate professional teammate when you are on pace to catch 30 touchdowns. None of his past indiscretions matter now that he's with the classiest of classy organizations. There's no one I want my kids looking up to more than this guy. (I don't have kids, but even if I did I wouldn't let them worship someone just because he can catch a ball or run fast or jump high. That's a whole other issue for another day though). Anyway, if this Mike Vick situation has taught us anything its that we have no idea who these people really are when the lights go off and the cameras stop rolling. They could be just as unscrupulous as the next dude and in a lot of cases we'll never find out about it. Yes the Pats are a good team and they keep whatever problems they have in the clubhouse for the most part, but let's not act like they're beyond reproach. They have some trifling mo'foes on their team just like everyone else! People are just willing to overlook it because they're winning. I'm just sayin......

Rockies In!

The NL playoffs are FINALLY set! The Rockies beat the Padres in 13 innings to win the wild card. It was a very entertaining game to say the least. Long story short, the Padres took a 2 run lead in the top of the 13th and Trevor Hoffman came out and promptly gave it back, plus one. Trevor Hoffman is one of the best closers the game has seen, but he hasn't saved a meaningful game in..... never. If it's the middle of June there's no one you want on the mound more, but when the games really, really matter you might want to look elsewhere. Anyway, he gave up 3 runs and didn't even record an out. Poor thing. Replays showed that Matt Holiday may not have even touched the plate, but that's neither here nor there at this point. The Rockies won, so they get to face the Phillies. This is the best possible outcome for MLB because these are the 2 hottest teams in the NL. Plus, we've seen the Padres in the playoffs recently and it's not pretty!
The Pats beat the Bengals. There are a lot of 1-3 teams in the NFL who were supposed to be way better than they have shown. The Bengals are one of them.
A University of Memphis defensive lineman was shot and killed. He was only 21.

Mets Suck!

Its official, the Mets suck! The Phillies won the NL East for the first time since 1993. I guess New York fans were worried about the wrong team not making the playoffs. In all honesty I was too, but that's mainly because I don't care about the Mets enough to focus on them. Anyway, I'm sure heads will roll in Flushing cause that's just the way it goes down in professional sports. If the front office looks at this whole thing realistically they'll realize that everything everyone knew would be a problem for the Mets actually ended up being a problem for them. It just looks worse because it happened so late in the season. Everyone knew their starting pitching and bullpen would be a problem this season. It's just in the beginning of the season when they jumped ahead of everyone else in their division, the other teams weren't playing all that well. Philly got hot at the right time and won 13 of their last 17 games. Talk about living in the moment. Good luck to them against the Rockies/Padres. (still won't know who's in til tomorrow)
The Bears suck and its not even Rex's fault this time.
The Chargers suck and there are plenty of reasons for it, including but not limited to: Norv Turner, Phil Rivers, offense in general and the defense. Once they solve all of those problems they'll be straight!
The Eagles should double Brian Westbrook's salary! They're a disaster on offense without him!!! Donovan needs him back there because no one else on that offense scares anyone. Osi sacked Donovan a million times. I'm kind of happy for him because we went to Troy together, but the Eagles are my team because of 5 so I'm a little pissed at the same time.
Brett Favre finally broke Dan Marino's touchdown record. No one has criticized old Brett more than myself, but I have to admit he's played pretty well thus far. I'm not totally convinced he won't revert back to his old throwing into triple coverage self, but I can't hate on him right now since the Packers are 4-0
Pepp got his revenge against the Dolphins.
Dallas looks like the class of the NFC. Yuck.
The Falcons finally got their first win today. Joey has played well 2 weeks in a row. My guess is he feels Leftwich breathing down his neck so he knows he better shape up.
The Steelers lost to the Cardinals. Mike Tomlin still looks good on the sideline though, so all is well.
Finally, move over George because Evander is about to release his grill "The Evander Holyfield Real Deal Grill. If it's cheap I'll definitely get one!

Random Stuff

The National League playoff participants are still undecided and there's only one day left. I don't know if this means that the NL is so bad that everyone is a contender or what, but that's my take on it. Now, that doesn't mean one of them won't eventually win the World series, but they all seem pretty mediocre right now. The Phillies and the Mets are tied and if they both win or both lose tomorrow then there will be a one game playoff. I hope it plays out this way!

Mark Ecko, the dude who bought Barry's 756 home run ball ran a poll and let "fans" decide what should happen to the ball. There were 3 choices: Send the ball to the Hall unblemished, brand it with an asterisk, or launch it into space. (rolling my eyes at that one) Anyway, the "fans" decided to brand the ball with an asterisk and send it to the Hall. That doesn't shock me at all. However I am shocked that the HOF is going to accept this ball and likely display it. They say them accepting it doesn't mean they endorse the viewpoint that Bonds used steroids, they're just happy to get it. Oh really? How can you display this ball and in the same breath say you don't believe Bonds used steroids. That doesn't even make sense. I'm floored that they would do this, I really am.

So I don't watch women's soccer and I'm not even going to pretend like I do, but there is one very interesting story surrounding the sport. The coach of the Women's U.S. soccer team decided to bench the goalie who hadn't surrendered a goal in about 300 minutes of play during the World Cup in favor of a goalie who hadn't played. Apparently this Briana Scurry is a legend, but still. The chic he benched named Hope Solo was pissed! Of course she was weary before the game, then when they lost 4-0 she was even more pissed. Someone put a camera in front of her and she let it be known how unhappy she was. She basically said that she could have made all the saves Scurry missed and this is not the past so it doesn't matter what Scurry has done in her career. She's at least half right. Whether or not she could have made the saves that Scurry missed is debatable, but she's right about this being the present and not the past. The coach was wrong for benching her no matter what you think about how she handled the situation. I'm not just saying that as an after the fact statement. She hadn't given up a goal and that should have counted for something. Her teammates decided to kick her off the team for the game against Norway because she'd be a distraction. They are all convinced the way she handled it was not in the best interest of the team. That's fine, but I wonder how they felt when the coach decided to bench her before the semis. Surely they couldn't have thought that was a good move, but I wonder if they had the nerve to tell him that.
Anyway, the Yankees will play the Indians in the first round. They have some good young pitchers, but I think this is the best matchup for us. Historically we haven't faired well against the Angels so I'm not sad about putting them off for at least one round. Hopefully our experience will lead us to a victory.
Notre Dame sucks. They might not win a game this season.
Top 20 teams have been dropping like flies today. This is why they need a playoff. The rankings don't mean a damn thing.

Race Matters

Disclaimer: Donovan McNabb is my favorite quarterback. Donovan McNabb says black qb's are scrutinized differently. He's right. I don't understand why everyone, especially the talking heads on tv and radio want to be so dismissive when a black athlete brings up race. Race is still very much an issue in this country whether people want to acknowledge it or not. People want to compare his scrutiny to that of Rex Grossman, Chad Pennington, Joey Harrington and etc. with all due respect to those dudes, they aren't half the quarterback McNabb is. The only thing he and Rex have in common is the fact that they both lost in the Super Bowl. Rex and the crew gets scrutinized because more often than not, they suck. McNabb is actually a very good quarterback (when healthy) He has a very good career winning percentage and the Eagles have been perennial Super Bowl contenders year in an out. Up until the past couple of years McNabb has always been the best player on the Eagles team. He's had to be Superman because except for the one year T.O. was there, he's had a gang of receivers who couldn't start for any other team. He's always gotten the most out of them and he's never complained about it. We fans bitch about his receivers year in and out, but he always defends them. You have to admit it takes a pretty big man to defend the likes of Todd Pinkston and Freddie Mitchell, but anyway. When black athletes bring up racial issues in sports I think it would do us a world of good to listen. Everyone criticized Gary Sheffield when he said the MLB owners preferred Latino players because they were easier to control, but no one stopped to think about the fact that Sheff has been in the league for 20 years! He's seen and heard a lot. I've never played in the League, but I believe there's a lot of truth to what he said. A lot of the Latino players come from poor countries and they have to support their families by any means necessary. Is it so hard to fathom that when they get over here they'll put up with a lot of shit to stay in the league? I mean come on, people go to work everyday and they HATE their jobs, but they can't just quit. People have children to take care of and bills to pay, so sometimes you have to go to work and put up with a boss and co-workers who are assholes! Sometimes when you have to take care of your family you have to do shit that you don't want to do. That's life for a lot of people. Everyone doesn't have their dream job! If only the talking heads had tried to look at it from some other point of view. For whatever reasons sports fans seem to think that just because blacks, browns and whites come together to try to win a game that there's racial harmony. Well, there isn't. The people on the field may be all chummy with each other but don't be deceived, they are still working in corporate America. The NFL, MLB and NBA are no different than any other Fortune 500 company. There are politics involved in every decision. Everyone thinks one day race will no longer be an issue in this country, to those people I say take off the rose colored glasses. Look at the Jena 6, this is the world we live in and its 2007. Things aren't going to change any time soon. I'm just sayin......

NFL week 2

So week 2 of the NFL is in the books except for the Monday night game, but I'm just going to go ahead and assume the Eagles will win. Anyway, the Falcons are just as bad as everyone expected them to be. I wonder when we are going to get to see that much heralded Petrino offense we've heard so much about. Next week would be a great place to start considering thus far they've only scored 10 points. That's not going to get it done.
The Chargers got drilled by the Pats last night. If they are supposed to be one of the 3 best teams in the NFL they really might as well go ahead and give the Pats the trophy. In fairness LT can't possibly have the type of season he had last year again. Can he? I doubt it, he set the bar way too high. Now maybe people will realize that Phillip Rivers wasn't that good last year it's just that LT was so good no one noticed.
Rex Grossman sucks! He must have some dirt on Lovie because there's no good reason for him to still be starting. The Bears defense will not be able to overcome his ineptitude 2 years in a row.
The Browns scored 51 points on the Bengals while the Bengals scored 45 points on the Browns. You expect that kind of offensive output from the Bengals, but for goodness sakes they can't be considered contenders when their defense is giving up over 500 yards of offense to the Browns.
The Saints have reverted back to their losing ways. Their offense has taken a step back and its mainly because the defense sucks so they have to play from behind and they insist on letting Reggie Bush get his touches. He needs to learn that in the NFL you can't run backwards before you run forwards. This is not the sorry ass Pac 10, they'll catch you. They need to give the ball to Deuce and get the hell out of the way. He might not be as "elusive" as Reggie, but at least he runs forward. They're looking more and more like that 3-13 team from a couple of years ago.
Matt Schaub looks like the second coming of somedamnbody. He's played extremely well and I'm sure Falcons fans are livid. Especially the ones who wanted him to be starting over that running back pretending to be a quarterback. (their words, not mine) Oh well, there's not much that can be done about it now.
Moving on, The Yanks beat the sux again last night. They got drilled Saturday, but they took the series. They needed it too because Detroit is only 2 games behind in the Wild Card standings. Boston still has a 4.5 game lead for the division. They'd have to try to lose it at this point.

Theeeeeeeee Yankees Win!

OH
MY
GOSH
We beat the Red Sux 8-7 in a very impressive fashion! It might not mean much as far as the AL East is concerned, but just the fact that we were able to come back from a 7-2 deficit, in the 8th inning, against our most hated rival is sweet enough! Okajima and Papelbon are 2 of the best relievers in the game, but my Yanks were unimpressed tonight. I could go into detail about just how we did it, but I won't. Just know that we did, and I'm ecstatic!
Troy University (my dad's Alma Mater) beat the hell out of Oklahoma State tonight.

Random Stuff

Damn I haven't written in this blog in a minute. I told ya'll it would suffer when I went out of town for 6 weeks. That's no excuse for my laziness, but let's just say I haven't been all that inspired lately. Anyway, there's a lot going on right now. The biggest story is Kevin Everett the player for the Bills who suffered a spinal cord injury. One day the doctors think he'll be paralyzed, the next day they think he'll walk again. I'm hoping he'll be able to walk again, but in the meantime I think they should shut the hell up and give it a little more time. When things like this happen it reminds me that these players make a lot of money to entertain us, but they still might be underpaid.
The Patriots were caught videotaping the Jets defensive signals. It's only cheating if you get caught, so I guess they were cheating. Maybe next time they'll put the videographer in the stands or somewhere a little more inconspicuous.
The Nets are going to give Allan Houston a try. That should solve all of their problems.
Apparently for this season's MLB playoffs, the AL team with the best record gets to pick whether they have a 7 or 8 day playoff schedule for the first round. While we're at it let's have them choose the umpires for the games, the time the games will start as well as who they want to play in the first round. Give me a break MLB.

US Open attire, Gold Medal, Wild Card

So the men at the U.S. Open need to step their wardrobe game up A.S.A.P.! They are all wearing the same thing. How tacky! The other day Donald Young had on the exact same shirt as the guy who eliminated him. This kid Isner who would eventually be eliminated by Roger Federer also had on that same shirt. The shirt wasn't even that hot! James Blake had on the same shirt as the dude he was playing also. It's getting ridiculous. I know Nike makes more than 2 shirts. Roger Federer is probably the only one who can get Nike to design something specifically for him, but the other dudes need to look into it. Federer had on this all black get up the other night, it was mean. He had on shorts that looked like tuxedo pants, and he accessorized with a shiny bag. Now the bag was a bit much for a man, but he's Roger Federer so he can do whatever the hell he wants! Anyway, Maria Sharapova got eliminated yesterday by some teenager. That sucks for her, but her little red dress was adorable. Venus and Serena seem destined to play each other in the semis. Serena's dress makes her look pregnant, but the announcers love it. Venus has her own clothing line so she's been able to show a lot of variety in her wardrobe. She's holding her own.
Team USA won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas games or whatever the hell its called. If Kobe is on the team they'll definitely bring home the gold medal from Beijing.
Yankees lost, Sux won. They had some rookie pitcher throw a no-hitter last night. Good for him. The good news for us is that the Mariners are on a 9 game losing streak. We have a 2 game lead in the wild card, hopefully we'll hold on!

All this fuss about dogs???

Alright, this is the last vent I'm going to have about Mr. Vick until he's sentenced. He finally plead guilty today so now we can start the getting over it process. He gave a press conference afterwards filled with the usual remorse, redemption and God talk that comes along with impending jail time. He looked dejected to be honest, but I didn't expect anything less. I'm so ready for this to be over! I'm tired of hearing about Mike Vick, dogs, PETA, suspensions and all of it! I'm going to take a very unpopular stance on this issue because no one else seems to have the balls too! (I don't have balls either, but I'm just sayin) I also find it hard to believe everyone in the media is as outraged by this series of events as they claim. Given the way the likes of Marbury and others like him who support Vick have been treated, I can see why most people would just fall in line. (they're punks) Anyway, they're just dogs! Yeah, I said it. They're just dogs! Dog fighting is illegal and something I'd never watch, but dammit, they're just dogs! Maybe I have this view of dogs being inferior because um I don't know, they are. I've had some bad experiences with dogs growing up as far as being chased and attacked and etc. so excuse me if I don't hold a dog's life on the same pedestal as a human's. You'll never see me sleeping on the floor with a dog, or carrying a dog around in my purse or any of this other ridiculous stuff that people do. That's just not the type of person I am. If you are a dog person, have at it! Dogs are cute and cuddly and are very prevalent in American households, but in other countries dogs get deep fried just like chickens do because they're animals. I think Its hypocritical of anyone who eats meat to act like they are against animals being killed for our enjoyment. Is eating out not one of the most popular ways we entertain ourselves on a daily basis? Whether its a night out with friends, entertaining clients, celebrating a promotion or any number of things. We relish every opportunity to go have a steak, chicken breast, rib, pork chop or fresh piece of salmon. Now all of a sudden killing animals is the most reprehensible act imaginable? Stop it! Don't come at me with the argument that the animals we eat are killed humanely. Oh really? Ask the cow who just took one to the head how he feels? I'd have to assume he'd disagree. We aren't a country that sits around and snacks on leaves and berries 3 times a day so we need to stop acting like we are! If you want to come off as one of these radical animal activist, then you have to treat all animals with the same regard. Let's not just single out the ones who are cute and cuddly and will roll over and sit at our command. Dog fighting is illegal so Mike Vick should be punished, but his whole life shouldn't be ruined behind this. That's just ridiculous. Let's forget about the everyday Joe's who commit crimes that are far worse than killing dogs and just focus on some athletes who were involved in criminal activity that in my humble opinion was way worse than this. Let's start with Patrick Kerney who had a rape take place in his home, but he supposedly knew nothing about it because he was asleep. He may not have raped her, but you can't tell me that there's absolutely no accountability on his part. Now, there is no way in hell a woman could have been raped in Vick's crib and everyone not put some form of blame on him. There were simple questions that no one has bothered to ask and that is what's reprehensible. The rape of a woman is far worse than killing a dog. I don't give a damn what anyone says! Just to name another, Danny Heatley killed his homeboy while driving drunk. He got off with barely a slap on the wrist. Aside from killing his teammate, he put everyone else on the road that night in danger. All I remember hearing from everyone was remorse for this young man who had just killed one of his closest friends. Apparently that guilt was punishment enough in the eyes of the media. Whatever. Remember Ray Lewis and Leonard Little? I won't go into detail, but let's just say murder and drunk driving were involved. I'm not here to make excuses for Mike, he broke the law so he should be punished. All I'm saying is worse laws have been broken without a smidgen of the outrage that has been shown here. We need to reevaluate our priorities if killing dogs is worse than rape and murder. I'm just sayin....