Vin is a Philly boy who shouldn't be invited into your house because he'll judge you on your book and music collection. He owns Dawkins, Utley, Iverson, and Lindros jerseys, which is all you really need to know about him. He can be reached at [email protected].
Desmond Howard on what bowl game he’s most looking forward to:
I’d really like to see the matchup with the Thorpe Award Winner Aaron Ross of Texas vs an up and coming superstar Deshaun Jackson of Cal.
Ummmm… yeah except Cal is playing Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl and not the Longhorns. Good work Desmond. We can’t wait till he comments on the Lions-Browns Super Bowl this year.
In 1980: In a move that was either experimental or lazy, NBC decided not to use game announcers for their broadcast between the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. Instead of hearing someone like Beasley Reece yap about how the Dolphins “are going to have to put points on the scoreboard to win,” viewers were treated to a blissful, if not eerie silence. Apparently, people complained because NBC never tried it again. If only FOX had replicated this move during that Minnesota-Green Bay playoff game a few years ago. The Jets won 24-17, if you care.
In 1998: In a 30-22 win against the Tennessee Oilers, Brett Favre became the first NFL quarterback to throw for 30 or more touchdowns in five consecutive seasons. Favre has thrown for at least 30 touchdowns eight times in his career, the most recent coming in 2004.
In 1946: Sugar Ray Robinson defeated Tommy Bell at Madison Square Garden to become welterweight champion. Robinson held the title for five years, had a 91-match winning streak, a career record of 175-19-6, and was never knocked out. He also had his nickname stolen repeatedly from future fighters.
Well folks, it’s done. Iverson has been traded to the Nuggets for Andrew Miller, the expiring contract of Joe Smith, and two No. 1 draft picks in the 2007 draft. By NBA rules, the name Joe Smith must always be preceded by “the expiring contract” so that people can understand why anyone would trade for him.
The Sixers get the Nuggets first rounder and the Dallas first rounder and it’s likely neither will be a lottery pick. However, with the way they’re playing, the Sixers will absolutely get a high lottery pick. Of course, the prize pick should he decide to come out would be Ohio State’s Greg Oden. The Sixers also get some cap relief in the next two years as Joe Smith and Chris Webber come off the books and they can focus on rebuilding.
The Nuggets, well, they get Allen Iverson to score 31 points per game while Carmelo Anthony is out for his 15 game suspension and hope that when Melo gets back, the two will mesh their #1 and #2 league scoring averages. George Karl must think he can control Iverson after speaking to his buddy Larry Brown.
Here’s some analysis of the deal from around the web:
[Philly.com]: Another great athlete leaving Phila. too soon
[Denver Post]: Woody Paige: This gift will keep on giving
[Yahoo]: Steve Kerr: A win-win situation
[Sportsline]: King didn’t get his men, but Miller’s not bad trade filler
1. Denver’s Expedition
Well, not too many people saw this coming. While missing four players to suspensions from the brawl in New York, including the leagues leading scorer, Denver rallied around the team’s veterans and defeated Washington 117-108. Earl Boykins put up 29 points, Andre Miller had 27, and Marcus Camby finished the night with 25 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocks to fill the void left in the absence of Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith. The also managed to keep Gilbert Arenas in check with only 23 points after he lit up the Lakers for 60. Good job Denver, only 14 more games to go.
2. Points Taken
With only a week left before Christmas, David Stern was in the giving spirit on Monday as he handed out 47 games worth of suspensions and $1 million in fines to the Knicks and Nuggets. In doing so, he eliminated the league’s leading scorer from competition until January 20, 2007. Now, the NBA’s two best scorers in Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson are at home watching and waiting for their returns. The two combine for 62.8 points and what’s ironic is that the duo might be on the verge of teaming up. If the trade is still going to happen, Denver would love to get Iverson suited up sooner rather than later thanks to Melo’s moronic eruption.
3. Just Another Day at the Office
As amazing as his season has been so far, Jason Kidd is beginning to actually make getting a triple-double boring. Kidd now has six triple-doubles on the season and 81 in his career as he put up 10 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists in a 105-97 defeat of Golden State. That gives him four triple-dips in his last seven games. So, for anybody that’s keeping score at home, that’s six for Kidd and four for the rest of the league. Unfortunately for Kidd, his spectacular play still can’t make New Jersey respectable in a pathetic Atlantic Division.
Monday’s Player of the Day: Marcus Camby vs. Washington 34 min, 25 pts (FG: 9-13, FT: 7-10), 17 reb, 5 ast, 7 blk
Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Los Angeles Lakers (16-8) @ Chicago (14-10) The Bulls are as hot as any team in the NBA right now. They’ve won 11 out of their last 12 games, including four in a row, and they own a 10-2 record in Chicago. The Lakers are playing on the road for only the eighth time this season. Kobe Bryant has been abusing defenders to the tune of 43.7 points per game since Lamar Odom went down with an injury. Tonight shouldn’t be any different as Bryant will look to fly in the house that Jordan built.
Buzzer Beater: At 36 years old, Alonzo Mourning is still getting it done in the paint. Last night against the Hornets, Zo played like he did when the Hornets were still in Charlotte. Mourning contributed a solid 11 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks in the game as he continues to fill in for the injured Shaquille O’Neal. While the Heat has never lost faith in their former franchise player, Mourning’s level of production has to be unexpected to say the least. No matter how many players dunk on Zo’s head, he remains a viable defensive force for Miami.
We don’t know why it took this long but the NFL has finally handed down a one game suspension to Lions d-line coach Joe Cullen for “conduct detrimental to the league”. Cullen was arrested twice within a week for drunk driving and “driving on the street without any clothes on. (NUDE).” Police were called when Cullen pulled up to a drive-thru naked behind the wheel. Man, a naked pasty old guy at your drive thru window deserves some sort of hazard pay.
Cullen was also fined $20k by the league which seems a little excessive considering the man is just a position coach and not making millions like the various members of the Cincinnati Bengals who got arrested this year. TO gets a $35k fine for “accidentally” spitting in DeAngelo Hall’s face and Cullen gets $20k for nude driving. This isn’t right. One is degrading and puts a black eye on the league. The other is just plain funny.
Links:
[Detroit Free Press]: NFL suspends, fines Lions assistant Cullen
In 1984: Wayne Gretzky, in a victory over the Los Angeles Kings, became the fastest player ever (23 years old) to reach 1,000 points in his career. Gretzky did it in only 424 games, which beat the former fastest Guy Lafleur by over 300 games. Gretzky would score his 400th goal a month later, also making him the fastest to 400 goals. To put Gretzky’s 1,000 points into perspective: The Great One reached 1,000 in only his sixth season. Mark Messier needed 12 years to reach 1,000, Ronnie Francis took 13, and Gordie Howe had to wait 14 years to reach the milestone. They are the three players behind Gretzky on the all-time scoring leader’s list. Today’s current leader, Sidney Crosby of the Penguins, better step it up quick if he wants to break Gretzky’s record. Sid the Kid would need to average 179 points a year, but nobody has scored that many since 1989.
In 1999: Offensive lineman Orlando Brown of the Cleveland Browns suffered a career-threatening eye injury in a game against Jacksonville. Was it an accidental poke suffered in the trenches from a Jaguar’s defender? No, it was a careless toss of the flag by a foolish NFL referee. While flagging Brown for holding, official Jeff Triplette needlessly Elwayed his flag – which was weighted with bb’s for some reason — and struck Brown in the right eye. Brown reacted angrily and shoved Triplette to the ground. He was ejected and suspended indefinitely by the NFL. He returned to play for the Baltimore Ravens in 2003 and eventually received a multi-million dollar settlement from the NHL. Triplette was never disciplined for the incident.
It didn’t take long for David Stern to hand out his fines and suspensions for the brawl that took place on Sat night between the Nuggets and the Knicks. In case you missed it, 10 players were tossed from the game after a hard foul from the Nugget’s Mardy Collins on JR Smith sparked a crazy brawl. Here’s the video of it. You can see the Carmelo does the most damage during the fight.
Stern gave Melo a 15 game suspension for sucker punching Mardy Collins. Here’s the rest of the suspensions:
The Knicks and Nuggets organizations were both fined $500,000 each for putting a black eye on the NBA.
Meanwhile, Isiah Thomas is coming under heat because he appears to tell Carmelo Anthony prior to the flagrant foul by Collins, “Hey, don’t go to the basket right now. It wouldn’t be a good idea. Just letting you know.” They didn’t get Anthony but maybe that’s why he was so heated during the brawl. Zeke told him he was going to come after someone and the Knicks did. Anthony confired that’s what Isiah said to him and reported it to league officials. However, Stern said that he had no definitive information about what Isiah said when handing out punishments. Still, there’s no question that Isiah meant it as a threat. Isiah is a terrible coach and a punk. He always has been. In his playing days, he’d hide behing Bill Lambeer but now he gets to hide behind a suit.
Links:
[Yahoo]: Anthony suspended 15 games, no suspension for Thomas
1. Must Be the New Uni’s
Washington guard Gilbert Arenas has been extremely flammable this season and last night he decided to torch the Los Angeles Lakers by scoring a franchise record 60 points. The Wizards have now won eight out of their last ten games. Last night was the fifth time this season that Arenas has scored at least 40 points and it only took him a half to do it. He had 43 points after halftime, including the overtime. Arenas had been struggling to score on the road, but in his last three road games he has averaged 43.3 points. And Arenas wasn’t the only hot player on the court as Kobe Bryant went off for 45 points, including 7 of 11 from behind the arc.
2. Cheap Shot
Carmelo Anthony recently donated $1 million to a recreation center in downtown Baltimore. The facility’s goal is to help kids find a healthy alternative to the criminal element that plagues the area. While the center has a gym and offers sports and recreational activities, it is unknown if there is a ring set up where children can practice throwing sucker punches just like their hero. Maybe they offer classes in how to back peddle as the league’s leading scorer has been doing since his pathetic behavior in the Garden. After watching the video, it’s obvious why Anthony is in the NBA and not a pro boxer. He’s a flyer, not a fighter.
3. Back on Top
It took a while for somebody to catch the Jazz who started off the season so hot, but the league has a new best team. San Antonio has been consistently winning and now owns the NBA’s best record at 19-6. With the best road record in the league, the Spurs have been able to hold on to the Southwest Division’s top spot for the entire season despite impressive winning streaks from both Houston and Dallas. San Antonio has the best defense as they only give up 90.6 points per game and, unlike other seasons; the Spurs are averaging over 100 points a night. The Spurs have a solid core that has been together for several years and they have a ton of playoff experience together. Throw in the teams trademark defensive capabilities and they are a team that will be hard to beat in the postseason. Injuries could be the only things to slow this team down in 2006-07.
Sunday’s Player of the Day: Gilbert Arenas @ Los Angeles Lakers 49 min, 60 pts (FG: 17-32, 3FG: 5-12, FT: 21-27), 8 reb, 8 ast, 2 stl
Monday’s Game to Watch: Dallas (17-7) @ Sacramento (10-12) This match-up might not have the intensity that it use to, but it is still a great rivalry. The Kings have been sporadic this season and you can never be sure which team will show up, but when they play at their best they can hang with any team in the league. Dallas is building on new winning streak after struggling for a bit after they won 12 in a row. The Mavericks’ role players have been the ones to excel recently as Josh Howard and Jason Terry have picked up their scoring.
Buzzer Beater: Pau Gasol is finally back and while his numbers aren’t up to his old standards, he is showing why he is so important to his team. Gasol is one of the most complete seven-footers in the league. The only column this guy doesn’t fill up on a stat sheet is three-pointers. Gasol can single handedly make Memphis a playoff team again. Obviously, this season is out of the question but if he can be 100 percent for next year then Memphis will be back on the NBA map.
In 1972: With a 16-0 shutout of the Baltimore Colts, the Miami Dolphins (14-0) clinched the first-ever undefeated, untied regular season in NFL history. The ’72 Dolphins are not considered by many to be the most dominant team in history, although they did lead the league in scoring (385 pts) and gave up the fewest (171) behind the “No-Name Defense.” They won despite the fact that starting quarterback Bob Griese went down in the fifth game with an injury and did not return until the AFC Championship game. Earl Morrall, who was 38 years old by then, quietly took the reins and led the league in passing efficiency. Running backs Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris became the first teammates to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Of course, the Dolphins won three straight in the postseason to finish 17-0; and now it’s just annoying when they annually pop the champagne when the last undefeated team in the NFL loses a game.
In 1973: Exactly 21 years, six months and 12 days before his ex-wife and her friend were found murdered, OJ Simpson ran a sweep left against the New York Jets for a short gain. That run on the cold, muddy Shea Stadium turf helped Simpson become the first ever NFL player to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season. He finished with 2,003 yards, won the league MVP and led the usually moribund Buffalo Bills to a winning record and almost a playoff berth. Other than that, nothing else ever happened in Simpson’s life and he plays golf all the time now.
On a Seattle radio show this morning, Jim Mora Jr. told the interviewer that he’d pack up his stuff from Atlanta and take the University of Washington job if it were available in a heartbeat.
I’d do it, I promise you that. Now, I want to see Ty succeed, and I want to see that program succeed. But if he decides at some point that he’s ready to move on and they want me, I will be there. I don’t care if we’re in the middle of a playoff run, I’m packing my stuff and coming back to Seattle… That’s the job I want. [Host: You’d leave the Falcons for that job?] Absolutely.
Junior immediately issued an apology as soon as the comments spread around the web and sports radio.
First and foremost, I’m sorry. Despite my off-the-cuff intentions, what I said was not appropriate for my players, the Falcons organization and our fans, and Tyrone Willingham. I got too relaxed with the radio talk show host who is a former college roommate, and I got carried away with the banter.
I want every fan in Atlanta to know that my heart and passion are right here with the Falcons and winning our game this weekend.
Hmmm… that’s smart. Piss off the fans of a town that is struggling as a sports town by “joking” that you’d take a college job over their Falcons at the drop of a hat. And on top of that, every player will have to answer the question of whether their coach would quit on them… right before an important matchup against the Cowboys that has huge playoff implications. That Cowboys -3 line is looking better and better.
Here’s an mp3 of the clip where Mora discusses wanting the Huskie job courtesy of KJR radio in Seattle.
Links:
[Sportable]: Jim Mora should probably shut up
[Atlanta Journal Constitution]: Mora says he’d love to coach at U. Wash