Random Stuff

The K G to the Celtics trade is official. Finally.
Yanks hit 8 home runs tonight, none for A-Rod though. He's still stuck on 499. Sux lost.
The MLB trade deadline has come and gone. The Sux got Eric Gagne @#$%%&%^&^$&$#$@$#$^%^#$%@! The Yanks got rid of Scott Proctor for Wilson Betemit. It would be great if Wilson could pitch out of the bullpen, but he can't so we are still screwed!!!
Barry is still on 754. I'm not going to write that every night during this road trip, but just know it will more than likely still be true for a few more days.
Pepp signed with the Raiders. Maybe this will light a fire under Jamarcus' ass and get him to sign a contract. I can't for the life of me figure out why the NFL wants to let players who haven't played a down decide they are worth $30 million guaranteed dollars. Cap that ish and keep it moving!
Rawlings dropped Vick today. While they (just like Nike) realize he's not been convicted, this really is necessary. They all seem to think so anyway.
Robin Roberts has breast cancer. This is terrible and I wish her the best!

KG to Boston, Vick, Barry, "Stuff"

Kevin Garnett might FINALLY be on the way out of Minnesota. Word on the street is that he's headed to Boston for everyone except Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Allen Ray. I'm sure there are some other people left on the roster, but seriously Minnesota is getting back like 10 players. Jesus, K G and Pierce are good enough (in theory) to make it to the ECF. We'll see what happens if this trade actually becomes official.
Mike Vick finally spoke out today. He did an interview with Porscha Fox from v-103 in Atlanta. It's the biggest station in the city I believe. It's good that he finally said something and I'm sure his lawyers were sitting right there monitoring every word that came out of his mouth. The dude in the case that went to court for the plea agreement today made it official. He's going to have to get on the stand and say whatever he told the prosecutors he would say. I suspect he won't be up there defending Vick, but ya never know. (wink) Apparently he's entered a guilty plea but they didn't guarantee him any specific punishment. I'm sure it's just legal mumbojumbo but I really don't understand why you would plead guilty and there's a chance that the judge could still give you the maximum sentence. I'd have to get some kind of assurance that I won't do X number of years or something a little more concrete then a recommendation of a lighter sentence, but that's just me.
The Braves got Mark Texiera from the Rangers. (pending a physical of course)
Bill Walsh, architect of the West Coast Offense died from leukemia today. He was 75.
Pepp is supposed to work out for the Raiders tomorrow. It could work.
Frank Gore broke his hand and he could miss the preseason.
So about this Barry Bonds home run chase and will the Commish be there and will Hank be there (no) does it really matter?? The only damn person that needs to be there is Barry. (for obvious reasons) It shouldn't matter who else is there watching as long as he does it in AT&T park. If he breaks that record anywhere other than San Francisco it won't matter if Hank and Bud are there, because he's going to be treated like sh*t by the fans. There won't be any reason to stop the game and celebrate the accomplishment because 85% of the people will not care to rejoice in that moment. Basically Barry and everyone else needs to stop worrying about whether Bud will be there because at the end of the day it probably won't matter.
Jose Canseco says he has "stuff" on A-Rod. Um, so even though he was telling the truth about most everyone he accused in his first book, you have to wonder why he didn't include A-Rod in that first group. Now all of a sudden he's writing another book and he has "stuff" on A-Rod. It just seems a bit suspicious to me, but he could be telling the truth so we'll just have to wait and see.
The family of Josh Hancock (Cardinals player who died in a car accident) has dropped their wrongful death suit against the restaurant that they claimed shared responsibility for his death.
I hope to be back tomorrow, but I have to go to the DMV and renew my license and in case you didn't know, the lines are long so it's possible that I could spend the rest of my 20's in that joint. Wish me luck!

Random stuff

Um, if you're a professional basketball player you probably don't need to live in Chicago! Eddy Curry was robbed at his home a couple of weeks after Antoine Walker was robbed at his home.

The Yankees are freakin killing me right now! Every time they pull to within about 6 games of the Red Sux they go on a damn losing streak. Roger Clemens is 3-5. If this is what $28 million bucks will buy you nowadays.......

Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. are headed to Cooperstown today. They'll make it official tomorrow.

The D-Train owned Barry Lamar tonight. I guess he didn't want to be on the wrong side of history. He only threw him fastballs, but Barry couldn't catch up with any of em!

One of the dudes on trial with Vick has a hearing on Monday for a plea agreement. This can't be good for 7. It just can't be.

Floyd Mayweather is going to come out of "retirement" to fight Ricky Hatton. I'm going to have to insist that athletes not use the word retire until there's absolutely no way in hell they can return!
Donovan returned to Eagles practice today at about 75% according to him. Wait Donovan. Please wait!

"Michael Vick is dead to us" said Nike, Reebok

I told ya'll yesterday that the Falcons wanted to act like the Michael Vick experience never happened. Well, you can add Nike and Reebok to that list as well. They've suspended jersey sales and anything else that has anything to do with #7. Damn, it's hard out there for the accused!
Brady Quinn is holding out and word on the street is he wants to be paid like a franchise quarterback. The problem is that the Browns want to pay him like he was the 20 something pick in the draft. The Browns have the right idea here. Just because his agent and everyone around him told him he was a lottery pick doesn't mean the Browns have to pay him as such. They didn't choose him with their lottery pick and they shouldn't pay him more than they pay Joe Thomas. It shouldn't even be close because he was a late first rounder. Get over yourself Brady!
The Bucs cut Simeon Rice after he failed a physical. Sucks for him.
Kenny Lofton got traded back to the Indians for the 3rd time in his career.
Barry is one away from tying Hank.

Mike Vick, (sigh) Skip Prosser, Stop Priest!

I'm starting to feel a little sorry for Michael Vick now. Hear me out. The Falcons are trying to act like the Michael Vick experience never happened. I heard on television that the Falcons had a luncheon for their season ticket holders and they showed a highlight film from last year and Mike Vick wasn't in it. Are you serious??? Who in their right mind could possibly scrounge up highlights of the Falcons' piss poor 2006 season and not HAVE to put Vick in them? I mean what were the highlights? Receivers almost catching passes, the first game when John Abraham was actually healthy, D Hall letting receivers catch damn near 200 yards worth of passes, but somehow managing to keep them out of the end zone? I'd really like to know where the hell they found highlights of last season? Seriously, Vick was the closest damn thing to a highlight last year and that's only because he rushed for over 1000 yards. That's something no quarterback has ever done and probably should ever have to do, but that's another story for another day. I'm blown away! I really am! And hey, just because they want to pretend like he was never there doesn't make it so. They can erase him from every highlight reel and take his likeness off every billboard, poster and every other thing associated with the Atlanta Falcons and fans will still remember he was there! While I'll be the first one to admit that there's a helluvalot of circumstantial evidence pointing to Vick, he could very well be acquitted! At the end of the day, the prosecutors have to get 12 people to agree unanimously that he's guilty and Vick has plenty of fans so all it will take is one person to think he's innocent then the prosecutors will have to try again. If he does get acquitted he should tell the Falcons to go straight to hell! They are treating him like a red-haired stepchild right now. (no offense to red haird stepchildren) They have shown him support in the past, but none of the other stuff he went through was this serious. Now, at a time when he needs them most they are already trying to wash their hands of him which I'd be all for if he'd already been convicted. They are treating him like his being convicted is inevitable. Do they know nothing about our justice system?? It works pretty damn well for the wealthy because they have teams of lawyers to make damn sure they don't do any serious time. Vick went into court today with a team of 5 lawyers I believe. He's not going to go down without a fight. I really hope at the end of the day justice is served. If he's guilty then he should be punished. If he's innocent then I hope he's able to resume his playing career in the NFL. If he does beat this charge, he needs to seriously take a look at some of the areas in his life that need improving. Basically, he needs to make better decisions and make damn sure that anything that has his name attached to it is legit. Moving on.
Yanks lost, Sux won
Skip Prosser the basketball coach at Wake Forest died today of an apparent heart attack. He was 56 years old.
Barry is still stuck on 753.
Griffey Jr. continued his trek towards 600 homers
Priest Holmes is going to give it another go. I really want him to stop! Last year the wrong hit could have ended it all for him. Has his status changed THAT much?? And they say Boxers don't know when to quit. I'm just sayin.............

Random Stuff

Okay, I'm going to make this short and sweet.
Yankees won, Sux lost! A-Rod hit his 499th home run. If he stays healthy all of this fuss about Bonds being the home run king will seem like the biggest waist of time ever.
Sux lost. We're coming!
Lance Briggs accepted the one year deal from the Bears. I'm sure he'll have to budget that $7 million, but I have no doubt he'll make it work.
Warrick Dunn will probably miss all of Falcon's training camp. He had to have back surgery. Let's face it, he's not a little whippersnapper anymore. He could be on his last leg.
Curt Shilling says since Bonds hasn't sued anyone he must be guilty. No one had mentioned Shill in a while so he had to say something to get himself noticed.
Tom Glavine is one win away from 300.
Mike Vick's perp walk is tomorrow. I'm sure ESPN will have some kind of live coverage and Kelli Nochi will be on the scene to report some really irrelevant information.

Vick (of course) Mike Coolbaugh, Sternbot

Sack Vick! Sack Vick! At least that's what I assume the picketers were saying outside the Falcon's headquarters at Flowery Branch. Well, it looks like they've gotten their wish for now. The Commish has told Mike not to report to Falcon's training camp right now. He wants to review the case a little more apparently.
While it is for the criminal justice system to determine your guilt or innocence, it is my responsibility as commissioner of the National Football League to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violated league policies, including the Personal Conduct Policy," Goodell said in a letter to the quarterback.
He also urged the Falcons organization to hold off on any disciplinary actions they may have until his investigation is complete. Blah, I'm just about over this story! Allen Iverson says Mike needs to just keep his head up! Who better to get advice from about something like this than A I ???
Vick hired the same lawyer that has Jayson Williams walking the street (for now) even though he killed a dude in front of people. He's getting ready for battle I suppose.
A Double A baseball coach died after being struck in the head by a line drive. His name is Mike Coolbaugh and he was 35.
The Sternbot is going to hold a press conference tomorrow. I can't wait to hear how he spins this mess.

Sack Vick, NBA=WWE, Turner Field

Sack Vick! That's what the protesters were saying outside of the Commish's office. They are so creative I don't know who came up with that slogan, but they should have their own advertising agency.
So the NFL and the Falcons may "urge" Vick to take a paid leave of absence. (I wish someone would pay me millions of dollars to sit my ass at home, I really do) Neither the NFL nor Arthur Blank want to be the one to tell Vick to stay his ass at home, but that's clearly what they want. Blank is in the precarious position of trying to please the fans, but no matter what he does there will be a large group of pissed off people. In Atlanta it seems like 40 percent of the people love Vick and think he is THAT dude. Another 40% hate Vick and think he's playing the wrong position. They fancy him as a running back or a wide receiver. Then there's the 20% of us rational fans that see Michael Vick for what he really is, a mediocre quarterback. He's not as good as those who love him think he is nor is he as bad as those who hate him think he is. He's just somewhere in between. Those of us in the 20% probably have mixed feelings about whether Vick should be allowed to play, but I myself couldn't care less. I'm an Eagles fan. However I will say that I don't think the league is being consistent with the way they've handed out punishments considering they've not suspended Vick. They gave Pacman the whole year off and when they did that he hadn't been charged or convicted of anything. He basically just had a well deserved bad reputation. Anyway, I knew when the Commish threw the book at Pacman it was going to put him in a situation like this somewhere down the line and here we are. I also knew that he'd not be so quick to suspend a franchise player. He wants to take the wait and see approach which is fine, but he didn't take that approach with Pacman and he should have to explain himself. And don't give me the repeat offender crap. Pacman kept being accused of being in trouble, but he wasn't charged (until recently) so I think that should have been taken into consideration. Nike suspended the release of Vick's new shoe. I'm sure if he's acquitted they won't be able to roll that sucker out soon enough!
The NBA has a mess on it's hands! One of the refs is under federal investigation for allegedly betting on games he officiated. Tim Donaghy is the accused. You can read more about it here. http://sports.myway.com/news/07202007/v7187.html The NBA did not need this! Everyone seems to think it will be okay because it's just one referee. Well, I'm no conspiracy theorist (or am I) but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a couple more refs who had something to gain by the outcome of a game. Some of these officials call fouls and throw out technicals like they have a vested interest in certain teams. We've all watched NBA games where we almost vowed to never watch another game again because the officiating was so one sided. It all makes sense now! Now we know why some players can go to the free throw line a thousand times in a game. D-Wade's Finals performance has finally been put into perspective. (I'm only half serious about that Whitehot) Now we know how a team can get no calls for most of the game then when it's basically over the refs start to give them the calls that they couldn't get the other 45 minutes of the game. Hey, they've already seen to it that a certain team got the victory. I say all this in jest. But seriously, I remember the 2005 Finals when Rasheed left Horry to go double Gino and I thought to myself and out loud that someone better make sure he doesn't have an off-shore account somewhere. I wouldn't be surprised if players and officials alike were dirty. I also wouldn't be surprised if David Stern knew more about this than he'd like us to believe.
Yanks lost, Sux won.
I took my niece and nephew to a Braves game tonight. They lost to the Cardinals. Pujols hit me a home-run. I knew he would. It was fun. Nothing says professional baseball game at Turner Field like a cold hot dog and stale nachos. I totally understand why they let you bring your own food in there!

753, Fox 5, The Good Rev. Al Sharpton

It's almost a wrap for the current home run King. (I don't mean that in a negative way) Barry is only 3 away from breaking the record after hitting 2 home runs today. Don't be surprised if he rests those legs during the whole Milwaukee series and waits to play again during their 7 game home stand that starts with the Braves. I hope he breaks it during the Braves series! That would make the story even better as the years go by. It would probably make it that much easier to remember also.
Chris Carpenter has to have Tommy John surgery so we might not see him again until the end of next season if then. That sucks because he was really good.
Yanks lost. Sux did too.
Steve Francis is going back to Houston. They have like a million point guards. It's so weird that he'll be playing beside the player he was basically told was better than him. Of course T-Mac is better than him, but still.
Fox 5 News had an interview with a tight end from the Ravens (his name eludes me right now) anyway it was high comedy and it wasn't supposed to be. Basically he kept saying "nan" I really can't spell it how it's pronounced, but he said that he prays that Mike Vick didn't have his hands on nan dog or nan gun and etc.. I almost fell off my couch! I don't know why this was so funny to me. I guess I just wasn't expecting Fox 5 to run an interview of that type and not edit that part out. I'd pay to see it again. Don't get me wrong, I'm country as hell too and I use that word, but only in certain situations. The news probably would not be that situation. I normally don't watch the local news because it's always something bad and if I did I might never leave the house for the fear of being robbed, raped or murdered. Right now I'd rather not know how much danger I'm in when I leave home. But, if I'm missing interviews like this then I might have to rethink my viewing habits.
PETA is supposed to protest outside of the Commish's office in New York tomorrow. Don't be surprised if Goodell calls in sick!
The good Rev. Al Sharpton along with Russell Simmons signed a letter basically telling the Commish and Arthur Blank that dog fighting is wrong and they should stand up and say it. Um first of all, Sharpton is a media whore and at the end of the day they wanted it to appear as though they are taking a stance against Vick. They aren't. They are simply trying to make it seem like they don't only attack Caucasians that have done something offensive. Would they have done this if they hadn't been under pressure recently since the Don Imus controversy and appearing on Oprah and etc.? Hell no. That makes their signing of this letter offensive even though the letter didn't say much of anything. Here it is.
The recent media spotlight on dogfighting reminds us of society's callous disregard for the suffering of animals and disrespect for sentient beings," the letter read "We hope that Mr. Vick is not a product of this insensitivity that runs through our society.""It does us little good to prosecute just those who are famous and allow people across the country to continue to commit these hideous crimes. We are hopeful that authorities will take the appropriate action against anyone found guilty of an atrocity as serious as dogfighting.""Today, we sound a clarion call to all people: Stand up for what is right, and speak out against what is wrong. Dogfighting is unacceptable. Hurting animals for human pleasure or gain is despicable. Cruelty is just plain wrong."Signed: Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA; Russell Simmons, RUSH communications and the Al Sharpton, the Reverend.

Oh, the good Rev. also said he wouldn't object to Don Imus returning to radio because he has the right to make a living. Well, if you were concerned about his living then why in the hell did you insist that he be fired in the first place? Al is a media whore and whenever he's involved in something please believe he has his own agenda and seeking justice is not a part of it.

Mike Vick of course

I wrote about the Vick situation for Score the in the second week of June and here's a very relevant excerpt considering the NFL's decision to let him play (for now)

As far as the NFL is concerned, anything’s possible. The Commissioner threw the book at Pacman and he’s yet to be charged with anything. He also suspended repeat offenders Chris Henry and Tank Johnson so you have to be concerned that he’ll come down hard on Mr. Vick. However, I think the fact that Vick is one of the faces of the league is buying him a lot of time with Roger Goodell. Every other player that had a meeting with the Commissioner this off-season about their off-field activities was suspended shortly thereafter. Vick met with him in April and he’s still active. I think the Commissioner will only act on Vick if he gets charged. I know Goodell has been flexing his muscle this whole off-season, but this is a totally different situation. It’s one thing to suspend receivers, corner backs and defensive tackles; it’s quite another thing to suspend a $130,000,000 franchise quarterback. He has to make darn sure he’s putting the Falcons organization in a bind for a good reason. So Falcons fans rest assured, if Vick gets suspended he probably deserves it.

So what we have here is exactly what I thought we'd have when this whole Vick situation unfolded. Vick is getting superstar treatment. All of you who are outraged about the Commish's decision, save your anger for a more worthy cause. Not that the Vick situation isn't worthy of your anger, I'm saying his special treatment is not. We all know how these things work. Vick is too big a figure to be suspended without a concrete reason. I'm not at all surprised that the Commish didn't take this approach with Pacman and the others. They are merely role players in the NFL. Vick is one of the faces of the NFL. Big difference! His superstar status is a gift and a curse in this situation. It's a gift because he probably gets to keep his job while this thing plays out in court. It's a curse because there is a spotlight on him coming from every area of the media you can think of. Sports, Entertainment, even political just to name a few. This is a bad situation for 7, the NFL and the Atlanta Falcons. I'll be watching closely to see how it turns out.

Age of Love recap, Random Stuff

Well, we are down to 5 girls! There are three 40 somethings left (Jayana, Maria and Jen) and two 20 somethings (Amanda and Megan) Mary, the girl who cries all the time finally got eliminated! Thank goodness. She was a disaster and she was just hours away from completely flipping out and killing everyone there. Amanda admitted that she's in love with Mark although she didn't want to use the word. Megan made a mad dash to the front of the race this week. Mark is really feeling her and Amanda knows it. All of the women at one time or another throughout the course of the series have said that they don't like to have to share a man and things of that nature. Seriously though, what in the hell did you think the concept of the show was? I don't understand why the 20 somethings are freaking out about him dating the other women. I already know Amanda is crazy and everyone else in the house knows it too, but Megan might be a lil stalkerish as well. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago Maria had the feeling that Mark wasn't the guy for her and she was going to tell him she wanted to go during the elimination. She told all of the girls she was leaving and basically said her goodbyes. She came close, but he convinced her to stay. This week she had the same feeling and she told all the other girls that she was leaving that night. Low and behold Mark and those darn dimples convinced her to stay! Jayana is a bit irked by Maria at this point. Next week should be interesting. You can watch it here: http://www.nbc.com/Video/rewind/full_episodes/ageoflove.shtml

Mike Vick was indicted today concerning the dog fighting probe. Enter Joey Harrington.
Yanks won, Sux lost.
Miami finally released Pepp. He's young and hopefully there's still something left in the tank.

Yi and his folks are at it again!

I wrote this for Score a couple of days after the draft and it's really relevant now.

Move over LeBron, there’s a new candidate for Global Icon and his name is Yi Jianlian. He wanted to get drafted and play in the NBA, but apparently there were a list of cities that he had a preference to play in. Unfortunately for him, the city that drafted him which is Milwaukee is not one of them. He wouldn’t even work out for them. Some say he just wants to go somewhere that there’s a large Asian population, but that’s nonsense. He wanted to go to a big city for the same reasons most players want to go to big cities. There’s more exposure, entertainment and opportunity just to name a few things. All of the above can lead to more money which is one of the main driving forces behind this desire. If he’s just looking for a place to play basketball that has a large Chinese population, then shouldn’t he just stay in China? I’m almost certain they have the largest Chinese population, but I’d have to check. He might not show up in Milwaukee so they’ll eventually trade him somewhere more to his liking. However, if I were running the Bucks I wouldn’t trade him anywhere! I know it’s kind of spiteful, but I’d say to him “you’ll play for us, or you won’t play in the NBA for at least the next 3 years”. It’s just that simple. I don’t know why any team would let an unproven player back them into a corner like that. You’re supposed to play for the team that drafts you, that’s how a draft works. You don’t get to go wherever you want to go when you start your NBA career. You don’t get that privilege until free agency a few years down the line. In other words, you have to put in your time and earn it. They should be happy any NBA team wants a 7 footer whose age no one can agree on anyway. Basically, Yi and his people need to get over themselves and just be happy he has this opportunity.

Just to expound upon this a little more. Screw Yi! I wish his team would block him and then when he re-enters the draft no one picks him! Of course this will not play out like that, but a girl can dream! You know the Sternbot isn't going to step in and stand up for Milwaukee because he's trying his hardest to get the NBA in China. He has too many business interests outside of the States to do the right thing here. He's always flexin and tryna show people who's really running ish, but I bet he won't flex about this. He's going to let Yi and his handlers force Milwaukee to trade him and he'll just go on like nothing ever happened. The prisoners are running the asylum right now and the Commish and the owners better recognize and put their damn foot down and remind these players who's writing checks.

Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Peasants Money

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 587th home run tonight at Turner Field and I was there to see it! Yay for me! The only reason I went to the game was to see Jr. and I told everyone who would listen he would hit a home rum for me and he did! Yes, it was for me dammit! I've never gone to a Braves game and left having not accomplished what I set out to accomplish. I went to see Barry on 8/29/04 and I went with the intentions of seeing him hit a home run and he hit 2 of them. 695 and 696. I don't even remember who won that game. Anyhow, I love baseball but NL baseball doesn't do much for me. The reason it took me so long to see a professional baseball game (other than the fact that I grew up in Bama) is because my first game was supposed to be in Yankee Stadium. But, when Barry came to town and he was close to 700 I HAD to go see him! He's one of the best players ever and anytime you have a chance to see greatness you have to take it. That's why I'm soooo glad Griffey was healthy this trip and I was able to go see him. His smile is worth the price of admission. http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2004/pr/subs/siexclusive/05/18/bb0524/p1_griffey.jpg I meant his swing. Yeah his swing is worth the price of admission. http://images.sportsnetwork.com/mlb/getty/cincinnati/2006/griffey_ken4.jpg He's now 6th all time. Oh, the Braves were horrible! The starting pitcher didn't even get out of the first inning and the relievers were no better than he was! They made mental mistake after mental mistake. They had like a million errors! Seriously.

Yanks won, Sux did too.

I'm convinced Barry Bonds is dodging ESPN! He has yet to play a game that they've televised this year. What a coincidence that his need for rest always seems to happen when ESPN has the game. I know he's in a horrible slump right now and he's as old as Methuselah, but this is a little suspicious to me. I'm just sayin.

Barry Bonds prayed with the Rev. Jesse Jackson before tonight's game. (insert joke here)

Acie Law had a great game at the Rocky Mountain Revue against the Mavericks. I can't remember his stats right now and I'm not going to look them up. If this were the regular season I would, but it isn't so I shan't.

Asante Samuel and Lance Briggs can forget about getting their long term deals from the Pats and Bears for right now. They had until 4 p.m. today to reach an agreement and they didn't. Now, they'll have to either sign the one year tender or sit out. I know that $7 million is peasants money, but I'm sure if they budget they can get through the year. My thoughts and prayers are with them in these desperate times.

Random stuff

Yankees won, Sux did too.
Tom Glavine is 2 wins away from 300
Barry isn't going to break the home run record on the road, and yes it's by design.
Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest were suspended 7 games by the league for past indiscretions.
Apparently a fan at Yankee Stadium suffered a broken neck when another presumably drunk fan fell on him from a few rows up. Thankfully he is not paralyzed, but now I'm terrified to go to Yankee stadium in August like I've planned.
Mo Williams will remain with the Bucks for big bucks! Hahahah! I made a funny.
Steve Blake is going to sign with Portland. Everyone is tryna get on that Greg Oden Bandwagon I suppose.
Mikki Moore is going to sign with the Kings.
Jamal Mcgloire is going to sign with the Nets pending a physical. We all know how those Nets physicals can be. Ask Shareef and I can't recall the other player who failed from last year, but my basketball heads know what I'm talking about. Let's just say they find ish no other teams can find. Yet they still haven't figured out Vince Carter has no heart. Mind boggling I tell ya!

DAVID BECKHAM IS FINALLY HERE!!!!

DAVID BECKHAM IS HERE!!!!!!!! So.
The Yankees lost to the Devil Rays tonight. Clemens was responsible, bless his heart. Red Sux lost too.
In other Yankees happenings, Sheffield broke the news that Derek Jeter is not equivalent to Al Sharpton in his blackness! http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2935737&name=FPT-2935737-071401&srvc=sz Wow, I would have never guessed that Derek Jeter is not all the way black. I know he's half white, but I surely thought he was going to start the next revolution. I'm glad we have players like Sheff who are always out to clear up misconceptions. He'll back track on this story by weekend's end, but it's totally relevant right now!
Dwight Freeney signed a $72 million contract to remain with the Colts. I'm sure they had to twist his arm to get his signature on that one! He's now the highest paid defensive player in NFL history. $30 million of it is guaranteed. This should really put into perspective why these franchised players are so pissed this summer. Players have been getting paid small fortunes this off-season. Good luck to Lance Briggs and Asante Samuel and etc.
The Hawks began their Summer League play. They lost to the Utah Jazz 64-63. Al Horford had 18 points. Shelden Williams still sucks. Acie Law had 7 points 5 asst or something like that. In the grand scheme of things though, Summer League doesn't mean much.

A-Rod's leaving, Seattle is joking right?

Today was still relatively slow, but a few things worth mentioning happened.
Apparently the Yankees want to talk extension with A-Rod now, but he and Boras want to wait til the end of the season. They claim it's because it would be selfish to focus on his contract when the team needs wins so badly and etc. Let me tell you what it really means. The Yankees probably want to re-up with A-Rod for somewhere around $25 million per. If he hits the market with the numbers he's putting up now, someone will pay him another $200 million dollars. There's no doubt about that. Boras is looking for at least $30 mil a year. Who could blame him? He does get a percentage. I'm not saying A-Rod isn't worth $30 mil a year, but the Yankees are not going to give him that much considering they've not gotten to the World Series with him. It's just not going to happen. They need to go back to playing the way they did when they were winning World Series and that means developing players and not overpaying center fielder's who throw like girls (Johnny Damon) The payroll is like $200 million dollars which isn't much considering the franchise is worth over a billion, but still. They might not even make the playoffs this year (that will hurt bad) Even though the injuries and the pitching have been the main reasons for the Yankees demise, they can't justify paying A-Rod $30 million per if they don't get into the post season. Aside from the financial aspect of it, Alex isn't tough enough to play out the rest of his career in New York; at least not in the Bronx. He might be able to make it on that other team, but his skin isn't thick enough to be a Yankee for the long haul. He takes everything so damn personal and I really don't know why he won't just snap and tell everyone to kiss his ass! His numbers stack up against anyone in the game today, yet he's one of the most scrutinized players in the league. It makes no sense. Now, as a Yankee fan I'm guilty of criticizing A-Rod, but it's only during the post season when he bats like .150 or something piss poor like that. Yankees fans have World Series aspirations every April. If the Yankees aren't in the World Series most Yankee fans don't give a damn who is! It's just that simple. We look at the regular season as a tune up for the real season. Like we always say, baseball is a summer sport everywhere except the Bronx. That's just how we get down. A-Rod has to understand that we don't give a damn if he hits 100 home runs in the regular season if he doesn't hit any in October when it matters most. We are somewhat aware of the fact that without those regular season home runs we probably wouldn't be in the post season, but we still don't care! Are we a bit unrealistic? Maybe. Yes. That's just how it is and how it's going to be. I happen to like A-Rod and I'll root for him when he's playing for the Giants or the Angels or the Cubs next year. Hopefully he will have led us to a World Series before he leaves.
Ichiro is on the verge of signing a $100 million extension with Seattle and the Florida Marlins president thinks it's a joke. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/mlb_experts/post/Five-and-Fly-Apocalypse-prediction?urn=mlb,39045 Hey I know Ichiro is 30 something, but look at what other players are getting paid and you can't be mad at him. Say what you want about the Marlins and how cheap they are and how they keep blowing up the team and how they don't have any fans at the games and etc. It's all true, but they've won 2 championships in the past 10 years, so occasionally they get it right. In reality though they should be ashamed of themselves considering all the money they get off revenue sharing because of teams like the Yankees. And they are always hollering broke! I'm just sayin.
Mark Cuban wants to buy those loveable losing Cubs.
Dwight Howard got an $85 million extension from the Magic. When he adds more to his offensive game than just dunks, he's going to be a game changer.
Derek Fisher is going back to the Lakers. At least he knows the triangle offense.
Apparently Big Papi has been playing with a torn meniscus. They should sit him, we don't want him to injure himself any further and have to miss the rest of the season! (wink)

Free Agents, Home Healthcare, Mad Fat Albert, Billy Knight

Not a whole lot going on in sports today. Rashard Lewis signed his contract with the Magic that will pay him like $126 million. No that is not a typo. A 28 year old swing man who most fans couldn't pick out of a one man lineup is going to make 20 some odd million bucks per year.
Gerald Wallace re upped with the Bobcats for like 60 some odd million. In my opinion he's a better all around player than Rashard, but Shard is going to make twice what he'll make. He may want to revisit the market. I'm just sayin.
Portland bought Stevie Franchise out of his $34 million contract for $30 million. They might want to look up how buyouts typically work. This ain't it! They gave him damn near all of his money and the freedom to go play wherever he wants too. So they basically gave up Zach Randolph for Channing Frye..................
Darko is about to sign with Memphis, it's only a 3 year deal so he'll still be super young when he gets yet another deal.
Some doctor thinks Greg Oden may have mono. He's not Greg's doctor, he's just a doctor. He must be really good if he can come to that conclusion having never examined the young man. I need to find out more about him so I can just email him my symptoms and he can diagnose my problems without me even having to leave my house. It would save me a ton of money!
Albert is pissed at Tony La Russa for not playing him and he should be. Tony says he was saving Albert for just in case they went into extra innings, but come one, a single would have won the game with 2 outs and everyone on the move. Try again Tony. The other thing that puzzles me about the situation is the fact that Albert plays for Tony! He should have been one of the first subs in the game just for the simple fact that his manager was managing the game. If you can't get preferential treatment from your own damn coach.............
So in more disturbing Atlanta Hawks news; Billy Knight let two of the assistant coaches interview for jobs with other teams, but now that they've been offered the jobs he's not going to let them leave. He thinks they should honor the contract which runs through next year. I have no problem with wanting someone to honor a contract, but why even let them interview if you weren't going to let them leave?? It makes no sense! And as far as honoring contracts, there's always a way to get out of a contract. Always! Almost all of them have buyouts and clauses that can get you out of them, so I don't know why Billy is being such an ass about this. I don't know why in the hell you would want to keep someone around who clearly doesn't want to be there anyway. They might try to sabotage the team and it could affect our win total. Hahahahahahah! Looking at our win total over the past few years, maybe they've been sabotaging the team all along! I don't know why Billy is acting like you can't replace assistant coaches with ease. It's not like the Hawks have a sophisticated offense or defense for that matter. It seems like just about anyone can do the job in Woody's system. Billy's coming off as a jerk! I know there's more to this story than meets the eye. He's probably just the messenger, but I'm just sayin.

Tony LaRussa is an Idiot!

Tony La Russa is an idiot.
The MLB All-Star game was tonight and since it's the only All-Star game with something on the line it can be very intriguing. The AL won of course. That's 10 in a row now so whomever makes it to the World Series from the AL will have home field advantage. Ichiro won the MVP, he was 3-3 with an inside the park home run. Oh, the reason I say Tony La Russa is an idiot is because the bases were loaded in the bottom of the 9th and the NL was down 1 run, Tony had one bench player left and it was none other than Albert Pujols. He did not pinch hit him!! He did not pinch hit Albert f***ing Pujols in the bottom of the 9th against a pitcher who had walked 2 batters because he couldn't find the strike zone!!!! I couldn't believe it, I really couldn't. He should have pinch hit Albert one batter before the bases were loaded, but I guess since Orlando Hudson had already................ done nothing, he wanted to give him a crack at it. Not a good idea. What was he saving Albert for?? Maybe no one told him that this game actually means something to one team in the NL. The Cardinals could even be that team, it's unlikely but possible. He has some splainin' to do. Nothing against Orlando Hudson or Aaron Rowand, but they aren't even close to Albert Pujols. They couldn't even carry his luggage. Tony is an idiot. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate his idiocy because I bet one of my friends dinner that the AL would win, but I'm just sayin.
Greg Oden will probably miss the remainder of Summer League play because he needs to have his tonsils taken out. He'll go to the ESPY's en route to the dentist.
The Salary Cap in the NBA will be a little over $55 million this season. That means if Orlando gives Rashard Lewis that max contract it will be worth more than $75 million.
Remember when Steve McNair got charged with DUI because he let a drunk person drive the car he owned, well the charges have been dropped. It never made sense to me anyway.

Age of Love starring Mark Philippoussis

So Mark Philippoussis (a pro tennis player who's career is nothing to write home about) has this show called the Age of Love on NBC. Basically he has to date a group of 40 year olds and 20 year olds and choose one at the end. It's meant to see if he's more likely to find a connection with someone older than him or someone younger than him. Anyway, the show is hilarious! I never miss it! He has to be one of the most boring people in the world! I don't see why the ladies are even putting up with him other than the fact that they don't want to lose. Most of them claim to have a connection with him, but let's be serious people, it's highly unlikely that sooo many women would actually fall for a guy who they KNOW is dating several other people. The show is full of psychos with just enough emotional baggage to get themselves on a reality television show. Two women in particular are just plain comedic in their approach. Mary is ALWAYS crying. She cries when she's happy, sad, mad, tired, disappointed and any other emotion most humans have. She is ridiculous, but she's still going strong. She's one of the 20 somethings. My personal favorite is Amanda, another 20 something. That bytch is just plain crazy! I know she has stalked a man or two, I just know it. She's completely fallen for Mark and the thought of him dating and kissing other women really has her unnerved! I know if he chooses her she's going to go all Glenn Close on him one day. We'll get to read about it when it happens. Mark got rid of the one woman who gave Amanda the most fits on the last episode, a 40 something named Kelli. Anyway, my money is on Amanda to win it all unless she manages to have a nervous breakdown before then. I'd be more surprised if she didn't than I'd be if she did. The show is hilarious and I know it's not meant to be that funny, but it is! I don't know how or why they chose Mark, but I'm glad they did. I don't think anyone other than him could have pulled this show off and looked as clueless as he does at the same time. I highly recommend you start watching and go here http://www.nbc.com/Video/rewind/full_episodes/ageoflove.shtml and catch up on previous episodes. It's so Must See TV

Barry, A I, All-Star Starting Pitchers, Derby

It's a bit early but I had to get on here real quick. I don't know why everyone is making such a big deal about Barry not being in the Home run Derby. Dude is a million years old! What good would it do for him to get up there with no cartilage in his knee trying to hit home runs just for the hell of it? None! He needs to save all of his strength for breaking that record! He's already having a hard enough time hitting home runs when it matters, he needn't worry about hitting meaningless ones. Some guys struggle mightily after they participate in the Derby. Bonds can't afford to take a risk like that. He has parties to go to anyway!
A I has to pay one of the dudes that sued him for his entourage beating him up $260, 000. It's better than the $20 million they wanted. Better for Iverson that is. I know $260 g's may not be a lot to A I, but the jury just told him and other athletes that they will be held accountable for their homeboys. Beware of the company you keep.
Jake Peavy will start the All-Star game against Dan Haren. I'm an American League girl no doubt, but I gotta pull for Jake Peavy cuz he's a Bama boy!
Just for the hell of it, I'm going with Cecil's boy to win the Home run Derby. I don't know why I insist on referring to him as Cecil's boy like he's not his own man. I normally pick players who have nice swings, but I can honestly say I haven't paid all that much attention to Cecil's swing. I just hope he doesn't have one of those violent David Ortiz type swings that don't translate all that well in Derby's.
Update

So I was wrong about Cecil's boy. He sucked along with everyone else in the derby until the 2nd round. Vlad won and all he needed was 3 home runs in the final round just to give you some indication of how sucky it really was. He beat Alex Rios who is a cutie by the way!

Wimbledon, Overhype, Summer league,

Wimbledon is finally over and in case you were wondering Roger Federer won again. That's 5 straight Wimbledon titles for him. He's the most dominant athlete in the world and it isn't as close as some would lead you to believe. He played Nadal in the Final and Nadal actually had him on the ropes heading into the 5th set, but Federer obviously sensed it and promptly beat the hell out of the kid. Aparently he won't be considered the greatest unless he finds a way to win the French Open, but in my eyes if he gets to 15 Grand Slam Titles, he is the greatest! I don't give a damn if he masters clay or not. As unfortunate as it is for everyone playing tennis right now to be in the Roger Federer era during their prime, it's also unfortunate for him that Rafael Nadal who happens to be a clay court specialist is in his era. He probably won't win the French Open if he has to face Nadal in the Final just as Nadal probably won't win Wimbledon if he has to face Federer in the Final. It's just one of those things I guess. If Roger were American he would get waaaaay more love from the big sports networks like ESPN, but since he isn't he doesn't. They'd rather shove Andy Roddick and Michelle Wie down our throats than focus on players who actually win events in their sports. Andy is a one hit wonder if ever there were one. He might as well just take up modeling full time. (in reality he's not even that cute, he looks like a mouse) It's not like he's going to beat Federer anytime soon anyway.

There may be hope for American tennis in the form of a little colored boy named Donald Young. He won the Junior Wimbledon title. His success would do wonders for tennis in America and in the "hood" just like the Williams sister's success. Let's just hope ESPN doesn't crown him before he actually does great things. They have a tendency to do that and sometimes it doesn't work out so well i.e. Danica Patrick, Michelle Wie, Andy Roddick, Freddy Adu. I needn't go on, I think you get the point!

Yankees won, Sux lost. We need to get this deficit we are in down to single digits a.s.a.p.! Why in the hell hasn't Josh Beckett gone down with a hang nail yet??

Summer League basketball in the NBA is in full effect and if these games tell us anything (they don't) Greg Oden is going to be a foul prone big man who averages about 12 points per game for his career and Kevin Durant is going to have to jack up 20 shots to get 20 points. Not a good look at all! Seriously, summer league doesn't mean a damn thing!! Marvin Williams has been an absolute beast in the summer for the past 2 seasons and well.................... My Hawks start their Summer League play on the 13th I believe. Considering the games don't really tell us much, I actually don't care. (I'll let you know how #3 and #11 are doing)

The Bucks are still trying to convince Yi to play for them. I hope they make his ass sit, but they won't! They'll trade him. If women were running these professional teams believe me some of the players would be reminded who's actually writing checks. A lot of these guys are getting way too big for their breeches!

Random stuff

Yankees won, Sux did too. A-Rod's MRI didn't show anything to talk about. That's good, he'll probably skip the All-Star game though.
Barry and Ken Griffey say they will not participate in the Homerun Derby. They are basically too old to be participating in things of that nature.
Venus is still alive at Wimbledon, but Serena is out in case I forgot to mention it. I think Venus is going to win it all much like she did in 2005.
Roger Federer's match got rained out during the first set. He hasn't played much lately and he looks a little rusty.
Grant Hill is apparently going to sign with the Suns. I understand veterans wanting to sign with teams that are championship contenders, but D Antoni buried Jalen Rose on the bench last year and he's known to only play about 8 players. Good luck to him though.
Kobe says he apologized to Mitch Kupchack for the way he handled his trade request. How sweet.

Random stuff

Barry is at 751. Maybe he'll break the record at the All-Star game.
Yankees won, Sux did too.
Rashard Lewis is apparently going to sign with the Orlando Magic for $75 million. Good for him.
Sonics hired PJ Carlesimo as their new head coach.
Dominic Rhodes will be suspended for the first four games of the season. Coming off that MVP performance in the Super Bowl has not helped him one bit. Maybe if they had actually given him the MVP (he did deserve it) he may have behaved a little better since the spotlight would have been on him somewhat. Probably not, but we'll never know.
Its still raining in London making it impossible for them to play matches at Wimbledon. I know there's a lot of tradition involved, but it's 2007 maybe they should think about a retractable roof.
AP says Chauncey is about to sign a $60 million deal with the Pistons, but his agent says that no deal has been agreed upon yet. I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

350, D. Fisher, Free Agents, Serena

Yankees won and in the process Roger Clemens picked up his 350th career win. That's outstanding. We're still double digits in games behind Boston, but at least we've witnessed history. Oh and just for good measure, A-Rod had to leave the game with a hamstring injury. When it rains it pours. I heard Scott Proctor went onto the field the other day and set his equipment on fire. I totally think he should have done that sooner because he's been unbelievable horrible. I know it's probably due to being overused but still.....
I forgot to mention that Barry made the All-Star game as a starter. He made up a lot of ground in a week to pull off being a starter. There was no way in hell they were going to play a game in San Fran without him being there especially with him on the brink of breaking the home run record.
The Jazz released Derek Fisher from his contract so he can move to a city that offers better care for his infant daughter who has cancer in her eye. I'm glad the Jazz did this without a fight. Believe it or not some owners would have made a really big deal about this. They probably would have just tried to trade him to one of those preferred cities. You couldn't blame them if they went the trade route, but this is much better. Retirement is an option, but hopefully it won't come to that.
Vince Carter resigned with the Nets for 60 million. Um, they weren't bidding against anyone so I don't know why in the hell they would give a 30+ year old who's injury prone and who played damn near horribly in the playoffs that kind of money. They should have let him test the waters. I can assure you there is no other team that was going to give him 60 million. 50 maybe, but 60 wasn't happening.
Jason Kappono signed with the Raptors. Let's see if he can shoot damn near 50% from three with a hand in his face. Make no mistake about it, there is no Shaq or D-Wade on Toronto so those wide open threes will be few and far between.
Serena went down with a sprain today at Wimbledon and she looked like she was going to have to retire, but luckily for her it started raining so they had time to rub her down in the back. She came back out as a statue and basically beat the hell out of her opponent.
Tank Johnson was not charged with a DUI after they pulled him over for being slightly impaired. Unfortunately for him, he's already been cut by the Bears. They had plenty of reason to cut him before so in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter.