Categories
Sacramento Kings

Ron Artest wants a fresh start

It’s been a rocky road for Ron Artest since he entered the league in 1999, but the troubles could be coming to an end soon.  Well, at least for the Kings.  

While Artest won’t publicly say it, Corliss Williamson told the Sacramento Bee that Artest sent him a text that said he would be retiring at the end of the season in order to spend more time with his family.  There’s no word yet on if his family wants to spend more time with him, but Artest still seems serious about his desire to call it quits.  He also told the editors of HipHopGame.com, the site that publishes his personal diary, that he wants to retire.  

But this doesn’t mean that Artest is done starting on-court riots.  In fact, he could be taking his show overseas, where riots are much more common, in order to escape some of the negative attention that has hounded him in America.  But how is hot-head Artest going to handle getting beaned with a battery considering he went ballistic after getting hit by a plastic cup in Detroit?

Still, Artest seems to think that with a little separation he can repair his image and go from villain to hero in the eyes of the American public just like his hip-hop heroes Flavor Flav and Ice Cube did.  But Sacramento president Geoff Petrie doesn’t seem to have much faith in Artest’s decision just yet.

He’s under a lot of scrutiny and at a point, really, in his own career where he needs to be a better keeper of his own soul in some ways,” Petrie said. “We’ll assess in the context of the whole season where we go (with Artest from here). But again, it’s sort of Ron being Ron.

Petrie went on and hinted that the team might be better off without the continuous distractions that Artest brings.

You’ve got to change something — change for the betterment of himself and for the betterment of the team he’s playing for,” Petrie said of Artest.  “There’s no team that needs continuous distractions, no matter how substantive they may actually be.

So, don’t worry Ron, it looks like you might get to work on that Flavor Flav impression after the post season concludes whether you want to or not.  

Links:
[SacBee.com]: Is Artest calling it quits?

Categories
College Basketball

You thought North Carolina choked? Check out Winona State

We have no idea where Barton or Winona State is but they provided an incredible finish to the NCAA Div II basketball championships yesterday. If the D1 boys could pull off a finish like this, we’d be talking about it forever.

Not only did they come back from being down 7 points with 45 seconds left, Barton ended Winona State’s 57 game winning streak that spanned 2 years. Anthony Atkinson is the man of the hour after scoring 10 points in the final 39 secs. We haven’t seen that kind of one man show since Reggie Miller did it to the Knicks in the 1995 playoffs.

Links:
[West Coast Tribune]: Winona State falls to Barton in title game

Categories
NFL General

Theismann goes job hunting

[Update: It’s official]

Who would have thought that one day would make such a difference.  Well, the move from Sunday Night Football to Monday Night Football caused Joe Theismann to get fired from his 19 year gig at ESPN.  Looks like Ron “Jaws” Jaworski will be taking over for Theismann in the booth and join Mike Tirico and Tony Kornheiser as next season’s MNF trio.  Apparently, ESPN thinks there will be more chemistry and comedy between Jaws and Kornheiser than there was between Kornheiser and Theismann.  Too bad Jaws is an engaging as a wet towel.  If ESPN wants ratings they should just stick Mike Wilbon in the booth with his PTI buddy Tony.  

Theismann said that he can’t comment, “until I fully understand what has taken place.”  It’s pretty obvious what has happened Joe, you got fired, dumped, shit-canned, pink-slipped, kicked to the curb…need we go on?  But don’t get down; we heard that ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is already taking applications for next season.  

Oddly enough, Theismann’s playing career ended 22 years ago on Monday Night Football when Lawrence Taylor snapped into his leg like a Slim Jim and caused a national audience to simultaneously turn in disgust from the screen.  So, naturally, we thought you might want to relive the entire gruesome scene one more time.  

Links:

[SI.com]: Reports: Theismann out on `MNF’
[NYTimes.com]: Theismann dropped from Monday Night crew

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Time for an intervention?

Hi, my name is Gilbert and I’m
addicted to gambling.

1.  Stick to the video poker
The NBA doesn’t like for their players to gamble.  In fact, they don’t even like them mentioning gambling, and that’s not good news for Gilbert Arenas.  Turns out that Arenas made two separate $10 bets with fans in attendance as the Wizards traveled to play Portland last Wednesday.  Agent 0 bet that he would drain the winning shot in the game but he blew his last second chance to pick up an Andrew Jackson.  Arenas, who admittedly plays video poker during halftime of his games, later wrote about the incident in his blog but the NBA removed the references and gave Arenas a stern talking to about his action on the side.  But losing the bets wasn’t the most humiliating part of the game for Arenas.  The big mouthed superstar guaranteed he would drop fity’ on the Blazers but came up just 31 shy.  Oh, so close.  

2.  Phoenix falters as Bibby bombs
It appears that Phoenix might have put it on cruise control against Sacramento yesterday since they have already wrapped up the Pacific Division and Mike Bibby made them pay for it.  Bibby was an assassin from behind the arc as he made it rain in Pacman-esque fashion, hitting 9-of-12 3-pointers en route to 37 points.  With the loss Phoenix is now just three games ahead of San Antonio for the third spot in the West and the Spurs are getting hot as the regular season draws to a close.  SA got 64 points off their bench in a 120-79 routing of the Sonics last night as the starters got to take a majority of the night off.  In fact, the only highlight of this game came when former NFL quarterback Warren Moon threw a couple autographed footballs into the stands during a timeout.  

3.  That’s all you got?
Hey, four consecutive games with at least 50 points is pretty darn impressive, but unfortunately Kobe Bryant’s scoring streak came to an end last night against the Golden State Warriors.  But nobody can complain about a 43 point offensive outing that resulted in a 115-113 victory.   However, this was the first game since the hot span began that the Mamba struggled to strike.  15-of-33 isn’t horrible but most coaches would be content with forcing Kobe to jack up 33 shots for his 43 points.  Still, no matter how you look at it, 268 points in five games is a mind boggling number to wrap your mind around.  But have no fear, when one streak ends for Kobe it is merely a matter of time before another one begins.  

Sunday’s Player of the Day:  Jermaine O’Neal vs. Chicago 40 min, 39 pts (FG: 15-24, FT: 9-12), 14 reb, 2 stl

Monday’s Game to Watch:  Denver (35-33) @ Detroit (44-25)  The Pistons are the best defensive team in the Eastern Conference but they are going to have their hands full as they take on the high scoring duo of Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson.  Luckily, Detroit will have Rasheed Wallace back in their starting lineup after he had to sit out against Milwaukee on Sunday following his 18th technical foul of the season.  Denver is holding on to the 7th spot in the West after Melo racked up 27 points and AI had 18 points and 12 assists in a victory over Cleveland on Sunday.  

Buzzer Beater: In one of the strangest situations in the history of the NBA, Randolph Morris could play a game in the NCAA tournament and a game in the NBA all in the same week.  Morris originally declared for the 2005 draft but was not selected, so he returned to Kentucky and played two more seasons as a free agent who was ineligible to be drafted.  But after Tubby Smith split for Minnesota Morris decided to sign with the New York Knicks and could even see action against Orlando on Monday.  NY is currently only 1 ½ games out of the playoff picture and the sudden addition of Morris could be a big addition for Isiah Thomas and his boys.  Or Morris could be hitting the wall after going through a full college season.  But either way, its gotta be a thrill for Morris.

Categories
General Sports

Vince McMahon is a hypocrite

On Wednesday the WWE’s chairman Vince McMahon was in Miami to announce that the Citrus Bowl would be home to wrestling’s biggest event, Wrestlemania. Everything was going good for Vince, a.k.a. the Genetic Jackhammer, until he decided to try and get smart with Local 6 sports director Todd Lewis after he asked McMahon about the company’s recent steroid scandal.

I don’t think it sends a negative message,” McMahon said. “It would be one thing if that were brought out and promoted in our events and things of that nature. We are talking about a minority of individuals that do things like this and you are going to find it everywhere.”

After the interview, McMahon said bringing up the subject of performance-enhancing drugs at the event was in poor taste, Lewis reported.

Lewis responded to McMahon’s comment during Local 6’s 6 p.m news show.

“Vince, you have your employees dying prematurely due to health problems from steroid use, you send women out to wrestle in dental floss with more silicon in their body than a Tupperware convention and you are going to lecture people about poor taste?” Lewis said. “Make sure you Windex that glass house you live in before throwing those stones,
my friend.

Now that’s what you call a billionaire bitch slap! Here’s how Vince use to react to steroid controversies back in the classic days of WWE.

Links:

[Local6.com]: WWE McMahon’s `poor taste’ comment slammed
[Steroid Nation]: WWE: steroids, premature death, and women in dental floss and tuperware

Categories
LA Lakers

Phil Jackson doesn’t care about March Madness



Turn that crap off!

A lot of people in Memphis last night might have considered Kobe Bryant to be the enemy as he dropped 60 points on the lowly Grizzlies. But there were a lot more people who would have preferred to get their hands around the neck of the Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson.

Last night’s LA/Memphis contest was being played at the same time as Memphis was matching up with Texas A&M in the Sweet Sixteen and the game was being shown on the jumbotron as Bryant was humiliating defenders live. There were sudden outbursts from those in attendance over the game on TV instead of the game on the court and Jackson got fed up with the fans loyalty to their school after Lamar Odom started clanging free throws because of the unexpected cheers.

So, completely devoid of any school spirit, Jackson went to referee Bob Delaney and demanded that he turn the close college contest off the big screen. And he did; with three seconds remaining and the Tigers up by a deuce.

I went to the scorer’s table and said, ‘That’s not right,’ “Jackson said later.”This is the game that’s being played here. Delaney did the right thing.

Eventually Memphis would advance to the Elite Eight after defeating the Aggies and the crowd in attendance would give a standing ovation when the score was finally revealed. While Jackson acted like his normal pompous self, at least Lamar Odom could roll with the punches.

Their team is in the race for a national championship,” he said. “It wasn’t surprising
at all.

The Zen Master could learn a thing or two from his pupil.

Links:

[LATimes.com]: NCAA action is distraction to Jackson

Categories
NHL General

Odds and Ends: Time to ask whether fighting belongs in hockey?


Is Colin Campbell insane? He told the Canadian press that “it’s time to ask the question” about whether fighting should be banned in the NHL. The only reason why hockey even registers as a major league sport is because of the fighting. Now for those who love hockey and not just hockey fights, fighting is still an integral part of the game. The enforcers, defending your superstars, having the back of your teammates, hell, even goalie fights are a big part of hockey tradition.

Sure it’s fun to see Sidney Crosby or Ovechkin do their thing but it’s also fun to see two goons square off. The problem with hockey is the cheap shots and the swinging of lumber. The old fashioned dropping of the gloves should never go away. That’s one on one man stuff that we love… in a purely heterosexual way of course.

In other news…

[MSNBC]: Kobe angrily denies contacting Durant for Nike… takes it out on the Grizz.

[Myspace]: Pro Wrestler (Edge) admits steroids use on myspace blog

[AJC]: Police deny Vick had any jewelry in water bottle. What they don’t know is that “jewelry” is the new street slang for weed

[Slam Sports]: Former Sixer Todd MacCulloch is the 208th best pinball player in the world. Falls 207 places behind deaf dumb and blind kid.

[The Big Lead]: Don’t worry USC, Tim Floyd isn’t going to Michigan

[Boton Herald]: ebay tells Manny to take his grill and shove it… but Jenn-Air wants Manny to do a commercial

And finally, don’t forget to watch everyone’s favorite awkward quarterback, Peyton Manning on Saturday Night Live.

Categories
MLB General

Major League Baseball doesn’t care about kids with cancer



Ain’t hurtin’ nobody

[Update: According to Lopez@Large, backlash against MLB/sympathy for Sunshine Kids has increased donations today.]

Bud Selig and his minions aren’t doing a very good job of making MLB look good. First there was the whole DirecTV exclusive deal fiasco. Now they’re pissing off baseball fans, Craig Biggio, and basically anyone who has a heart.

The commissioners office told Biggio, the national spokesman for the Sunshine Kids foundation, that he has to stop wearing a Sunshine Kids logo pin during Spring Training.


I’m not a disrespectful person and I don’t disrespect the game. But I’ve been wearing this pin for 20 years because it puts smiles on 20,000-something cancer patients’ faces. Major League Baseball does a lot of good things, but this is one of the stupid things.

We understand the need to maintain uniform integrity (because next thing you know Manny Ramirez will be putting his ebay listings on his hat) but this is spring training! How much harm is Craig Biggio doing by having a small pin on his hat. From MLB’s reaction (they told him the umpires would make sure he wasn’t wearing the pin), you’d think Biggio had stitched a Nazi flag on his lid.

Look, we realize that baseball can’t just allow players to wear whatever they want. We certainly don’t want to see nine different colored ribbons out on the field for each players’ pet projects but did we mention this is spring training! Just let it slide.

Links:
[Houston Chronicle]: MLB bars Biggio from wearing pin

Categories
Tennessee Titans

Pacman’s hideout gets cleaned out


It shouldn’t be a shocker that Pacman Jones is once again involved with the law, but what should be surprising is that the law is actually on his side in this one.

Pacman’s Tennessee crib was robbed back around the beginning of the year and the sneaky bastard got away with over $209,000 worth of loot. That’s a pretty decent night’s work. Turns out that the thief and Jones share a lot of the same interests; apparently they both like expensive televisions, video games, cash, jewelry, computers, recording equipment and surveillance equipment (that could have come in handy). Some of the more gaudy items taken were an $80,000 watch, a necklace and chain worth $75,000 and $25,000 in dollar, dollar bills, ya’ll.

We have nothing to go on in this incident,” detective Jonathan Couey said. “We feel like there is the possibility that it could be someone who was acquainted with Mr. Jones, because they were able to get into the gate, which has a code, and they knew how to get into his house. If anyone has any information, we need them to contact us.

Things just keep going from bad to worse for Jones. But you know what they say, when it rains it pours.

Links:

[NashvileCityPaper.com]: Pacman’s home burglarized in January

Categories
NHL General

Clark the Canadian Hockey Goalie

Another day… hey no hockey fight video. But we do have this great short film from 2003. This is pretty damn funny. “Screen! Screen!!” (thanks to Off Wing Opinion)