New Jersey Nets (4-4, three-game losing streak since Vince Carter's ankle injury)
Still without Vinsanity Wednesday night in the Boston Bank Gahden, New York(B) got hosed 91-69 by the new-look Celtics, who moved to 7-0. Bringing irony to their moniker on on off-shooting night, the Nets were hitting anything but, scattering bricks all evening en route to scoring 34 points on 36% shooting in the first half then "exploding" for 35 points on 31% shooting in the second. Amazingly, Boston only led by two at halftime before blowing Joisy away in the third quarter.
Los Angeles Clippers (5-2, zero Shaun Livingstons and Elton Brands)
While LA(1) moved to 4-3 with an impressive road victory in Houston Wednesday, the LA(2) Clippers buried NY(A) 84-81 at the Staples Center despite shooting only 36.5%. Luckily for the Clips, the Knicks shot only 34.6% for the game and put up a grand total of nine points in the third quarter.
At this point, New York sports fans should expect A-Rod and Mariano Rivera to sign with the Dodgers.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
NBA 10% Season Report
With the NBA season having reached as many as eight games for some teams, it's time for dp's NBA 10% Season Report. Three cities have dominated the hoops scene thus far: the Big Three of Boston, Los Angeles, and New York. Fittingly, both New York(/New Jersey) and L.A. are two-team cities, a fact that only feeds the unassisted double player's penchant for two-fisted slopping. (In other words, dp, to be geographically judicious, will also mention the Nets and Clippers, thereby supersizing his Tri-City coverage to a Five-Team peek). But in terms of story lines in the fist tenth, only one is actually about on-court performance: the Boston Celtics' resurgence behind their Big Three of KG, Paul Pierce, and Jesus Shuttlesworth. Meanwhile, the ongoing Kobe Byrant trade speculation in Los Angeles and the Knicks' circus in the Big Apple not only don't have happy endings, they don't have much hope of ending at all anytime soon.
Even before the season began, New York was generating most of the off-season NBA news. New York Post headlines have featured, in turn, the fallout from Tim Donagy and the NBA referee betting scandal; the lawsuit brought by Anucha Browne, former senior vice president of marketing for the Knicks, against Isiah Thomas for sexual harassment and against Knicks owner and Madison Square Garden President James Dolan for failing to protect her in a "hostile" work environment; and the latest, Stephon Marbury's disappearing act in Phoenix Tuesday, when he went AWOL and failed to show up for morning shootaround. With his customary smile frozen in place, Isiah reacts to Starbury's no-show in the video below.
New York Knicks (2-4; three-game losing streak, two megalomaniacal leaders, one missing person)
Stephon Marbury, reportedly back in New York as of 4 p.m. Tuesday and telling The Post that he received Isaiah's permission, might be crazy, but Isiah Thomas is definitely crazy. The annual Zeke-Starbury flareup is the inevitable image of two doppelgangers battling to determine who is whose alter ego. Imagine two attention-seeking point guards playing one-on-one for center position in front of an HD fishbowl. Of course, Zeke considers their tiff itself to be a private matter. When Thomas talks about this latest controversy as an "in-house" matter, he's talking about how things are handled inside the crazy house.
Earlier this summer, Thomas seemed to monopolize the spotlight when he was found guilty of sexual harassing former Knicks executive Anucha Browne Sanders, but as the sordid trial wound down to judgment, Marbury managed to pop up in the testimony of Knicks employee Kathleen Decker, who stated that she had backseat sex with the married Marbury in his SUV while parked outside a night club in 2005. She, unlike Sanders, consented to her superior's advance. Six weeks before the trial began, Decker received a big promotion.
Meanwhile, Sanders' saga goes something like this: First, in executive meetings, she complained of Thomas' unprofessional behavior and then threatened to sue if something wasn't done. The Knicks suspended her pending an internal investigation, then Knicks owner and MSG president James Dolan, concerned that the “overall health of the Garden was in jeopardy,” fired her after he determined that her allegations were unfounded. Amazingly, Dolan was able to do so without even bothering to talk to legal counsel or look at a report on the investigation of Sanders' claims. Now that's great leadership, Jimmy! Sanders subsequently sued Thomas, MSG and Dolan in January 2006, and on Oct. 2 a civil court jury found Thomas guilty and awarded Sanders $11.6 million.
Dolan, the mad doctor in charge of this loony bin, is crazy himself. All told, basketball in the Big Apple is more than a few dashes of cinnamon shy of apple pie. On the other hand, there's nothing more American than a good-old family feud. And that's exactly what the show at the Garden looks like these days.
While Thomas' guilty verdict represents the point of terminal velocity for the Knicks' disaster, who can say when it all began to unravel? It's like trying to identify the first snowflake in an avalanche. Did it begin in September 1999, when Isiah honed his franchise-killing skills by buying the CBA only for it to declare bankruptcy less than two years later? Or maybe October 1999 when Dolan first assumed managing control of the Knicks? Was it in December 2003 when Dolan named Thomas president of basketball operations? Or in the 2005-06 season, when their managerial strategery of accumulating huge contracts of overpaid underachievers resulted in a 23-59 record paired with the league's highest payroll of $130 million?
(Head coach Larry Brown, axed after that awful season, is no dummy; perhaps he loathed associating with these guys so much that he purposely tanked in order to be "fired"/bought out of his misery for $18.5 million.) Or was it when the buyouts didn't end there, and Dolan shelled out another $14 million and then $30 million (both amounts including luxury tax penalties) to Maurice Taylor and Jalen Rose, respectively, in order to secure their unconditional releases and allow the Knicks to acquire more players and incur additional luxury taxes? For a full litany of the Knicks's struggles since the volatile Dolan, a recovering addict prone to "treating people like shit," was named CEO of Cablevision by his father in 1995, check out Sean Cunningham's History of the Decline and Fall of the New York Knickerbockers for Esquire.
Back to the present hostile environment, Thomas of course vehemently asserted that he was "extremely disappointed that the jury could not see the facts" and will appeal the decision. Meanwhile, SportsCenter reported early Wednesday morning that the NY Daily News quoted Marbury as saying, "Isiah has to start me. I've got so much (stuff) on Isiah and he knows it. He thinks he can (get) me. But I'll (get) him first. You have no idea what I know."
At least Isiah isn't on the hook for Sanders' $11 million settlement. That bill also goes Dolan, the richest and most entitled daddy-made man in professional sports and sketchy Zeke's staunchest supporter. On the brighter side of things, now Dolan finally has personal inspiration to sing the blues and play rhythm guitar in his band, JD and the Straight Shot.
Nonetheless, Isiah narrowly edges out Martina Hingis on
dp's Sick Six List of Over-Emphatic Protestations of Innocence:
6. Martina Hingis: The tennis star retired last week in the wake of a positive test for cocaine on June 29 at Wimbledon. She says, "I have tested positive but I have never taken drugs and I feel 100 percent innocent.... I have no desire to spend the next several years of my life reduced to fighting against the doping officials.... I am frustrated and angry. I believe that I am absolutely, 100 percent innocent.
Here's what the PTI guys have to say:
Adding to the sense that she was overdoing her claim of "absolute, 100 percent" innocence, Hingis verbosely rambled on to say, "I find this accusation so horrendous, so monstrous, that I have decided to confront it head-on by talking to the press.... They say that cocaine increases self-confidence and creates a type of euphoria. I don't know. I only know that if I were to try to hit the ball while in any state of euphoria, it simply wouldn't work. I would think that it would be impossible for anyone to maintain the coordination required to play top class tennis while under the influence of drugs," Hingis added, displaying accurate knowledge of the drug's effects. Hingis lost in the third round on the day she tested positive, but she assures us that her lawyers can prove her innocence. Who knows? Perhaps the "Swiss Miss" consumed a tainted packet of instant hot chocolate powder.
5. Original "Bad Boy" Isiah Thomas:
Concerning his sexual harassment conviction, Isiah told a throng of reporters outside the courtroom, "I want to say it as loud as I possibly can. I'm innocent. I'm very innocent." Of course, true innocence need not be qualified with the redundant "very" and would thus only be used by a (very) guilty criminal.
4. Rafael Palmeiro:
Just months before being suspended for testing positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol, Palmeiro wagged his finger before Congress and testified, "I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never." Of course, the second never negates the first, and the resulting double-negative equals a positive steroid test. If only Palmeiro had taken elementary math (or non-juiced Vitamin B-12 shots) instead of simple reverse-psychology.
3. Pete Rose: "I never bet on baseball." Oh, wait, actually he did, and he'll tell you all about it in his best-selling autobiography, My Prison Without Bars. Seriously, go buy a copy. One dollar of every copy sold goes directly to the IRS, and two dollars go toward Rose's "lock" in the daily No. 9 race at Santa Anita. Come 0n, give the old boy something to do while he waits in vain to be reinstated by Bud Selig and consequently enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
2. Marion Jones: Perhaps the saddest story of all, fool's golden girl Jones recently came clean about using performance-enhancing drugs during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where she won five medals, including three golds.
1. O.J. Simpson: Even though he's admitted to "masterminding" a plot to forcibly enter a Las Vegas hotel room with the intent of taking sports memorabilia "stolen" from him by unscrupulous dealers, doesn't everyone believe O.J's claims that there were no guns involved and that all of the junk was rightfully his anyway? In a move familiar to amateur poker players, Simpson practically invented the old "act strong when you're weak, and act weak when you're strong" tactic. (Remember the defense's argument that the battered Juice was too debilitated after his Hall of Fame pro football career to even wield a knife in the manner required to violently murder Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman? "Your honor, I'm only able to powerfully stiff arm, not vengefully stab, defenders to the ground.")
To steer dp's meandering scope back where it started, dp hopes that Zeke and Starbury don't stop at the kissing part of making up; they should continue their love affair indefinitely. This makes sense on multiple levels:
1. Both playmakers have already expressed a desire to pursue sexual relationships in the work place.
2. Both know how to score off a backdoor cut.
3. The ensuing media bonanza celebrating the NBA's first open gay relationship would generate huge interest and expand the Knick's fan base, which would in turn increase revenue that could supplement Dolan's operational costs of poor performance, payroll mismanagement, executive favoritism/nepotism/sexism, and professional lechery. Not to mention the fact that this backcourt combo would transcend even the metrosexual model of modern man and take coolness to a whole new level. Short of the Knicks winning the NBA championship (Vegas has optimistically posted 60-1 odds), this is the best possible news for which fans can hope.
Boston Celtics (6-0, three synergistic superstars, two previously embattled but currently thrilled leaders)
Simply put, KG and the Celtics are killing it. dp was there for The Big Three's home opener versus Washington on Friday, Nov. 2. Check out the energy of the TD Banknorth (bleh!) Garden during introductions:
dp attended the game with three of his college roommates, Boston's original Flickster trio, Ron "Jeremy" Mazza, John "Not Ryan" Flynn, and Zed Fong-Torres. Predictably, Milwaukee native dp was the only one of the bunch to pick Ray Allen as the best-looking member of Boston's Big Three when surveyed by an ESPN Magazine reporter. Presumably, the NBA's last undefeated team will lose at some point, but possibly never to a (L)Eastern Conference team. Boston GM Kevin McHale, er, Danny Ainge, and "coach" Doc Rivers rejoice.
Los Angeles Lakers (3-3, tenth in Western conference, one superstar's impossible trade demand)
Paradoxically, Los Angeles has almost no chance of completing a Kobe trade because Bryant holds the NBA's only active no-trade clause and will only approve a deal that he thinks will enable his prospective team to compete for a championship; the Lakers would consider any such deal patently unfair to their own future interests and thus fail to pull the trigger. Despite the unlikelihood of a deal happening, speculation will continue unchecked because the Lakers cannot come out and declare that Kobe won't be traded. They are prevented from doing so by the terms of the pact that Kobe and Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss hashed out this summer in Barcelona. Buss promised Kobe that he would at least listen to trade offers, while in return Kobe promised to play hard and publicly support the Lakers. Perhaps the most entertaining aspect of the Kobe trade drama is watching other teams implode. The Bulls have been intensely scrutinized as having the inside track in the Kobe sweepstakes, and the talented team (49-33 last year) has fallen apart on the court with an atrocious 1-5 start. Meanwhile, Kobe's former companion, Shaquille O'Neal, isn't even a shade of his former self, and the Heat, desperate for Dwyane Wade's return, are playing so badly in accumulating a 1-6 record that Pat Riley is considering suiting up himself.
That's about the tenth of it. Check back in three weeks for dp's 20% Season Report: Five Surprises a Fifth of the Way, which will include:
-dp's first Double Deuce Slotter, his Top 22 teams (11 each in the East and West)
- First quarter Division Grades for the Atlantic (Boston, Toronto, Jersey, New York, Philly); the Central (Detroit, Cleveland, Indiana, Milwaukee, Chicago); the Southeast (Washington, Orlando, Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami); the Northwest (Utah, Denver, Portland, Minny, Seattle); the Texas Blues (San Antonio, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Memphis); and CaliZona (Phoenix, Clippers, Lakers, Sactown, Golden State)
Even before the season began, New York was generating most of the off-season NBA news. New York Post headlines have featured, in turn, the fallout from Tim Donagy and the NBA referee betting scandal; the lawsuit brought by Anucha Browne, former senior vice president of marketing for the Knicks, against Isiah Thomas for sexual harassment and against Knicks owner and Madison Square Garden President James Dolan for failing to protect her in a "hostile" work environment; and the latest, Stephon Marbury's disappearing act in Phoenix Tuesday, when he went AWOL and failed to show up for morning shootaround. With his customary smile frozen in place, Isiah reacts to Starbury's no-show in the video below.
New York Knicks (2-4; three-game losing streak, two megalomaniacal leaders, one missing person)
Stephon Marbury, reportedly back in New York as of 4 p.m. Tuesday and telling The Post that he received Isaiah's permission, might be crazy, but Isiah Thomas is definitely crazy. The annual Zeke-Starbury flareup is the inevitable image of two doppelgangers battling to determine who is whose alter ego. Imagine two attention-seeking point guards playing one-on-one for center position in front of an HD fishbowl. Of course, Zeke considers their tiff itself to be a private matter. When Thomas talks about this latest controversy as an "in-house" matter, he's talking about how things are handled inside the crazy house.
Earlier this summer, Thomas seemed to monopolize the spotlight when he was found guilty of sexual harassing former Knicks executive Anucha Browne Sanders, but as the sordid trial wound down to judgment, Marbury managed to pop up in the testimony of Knicks employee Kathleen Decker, who stated that she had backseat sex with the married Marbury in his SUV while parked outside a night club in 2005. She, unlike Sanders, consented to her superior's advance. Six weeks before the trial began, Decker received a big promotion.
Meanwhile, Sanders' saga goes something like this: First, in executive meetings, she complained of Thomas' unprofessional behavior and then threatened to sue if something wasn't done. The Knicks suspended her pending an internal investigation, then Knicks owner and MSG president James Dolan, concerned that the “overall health of the Garden was in jeopardy,” fired her after he determined that her allegations were unfounded. Amazingly, Dolan was able to do so without even bothering to talk to legal counsel or look at a report on the investigation of Sanders' claims. Now that's great leadership, Jimmy! Sanders subsequently sued Thomas, MSG and Dolan in January 2006, and on Oct. 2 a civil court jury found Thomas guilty and awarded Sanders $11.6 million.
Dolan, the mad doctor in charge of this loony bin, is crazy himself. All told, basketball in the Big Apple is more than a few dashes of cinnamon shy of apple pie. On the other hand, there's nothing more American than a good-old family feud. And that's exactly what the show at the Garden looks like these days.
While Thomas' guilty verdict represents the point of terminal velocity for the Knicks' disaster, who can say when it all began to unravel? It's like trying to identify the first snowflake in an avalanche. Did it begin in September 1999, when Isiah honed his franchise-killing skills by buying the CBA only for it to declare bankruptcy less than two years later? Or maybe October 1999 when Dolan first assumed managing control of the Knicks? Was it in December 2003 when Dolan named Thomas president of basketball operations? Or in the 2005-06 season, when their managerial strategery of accumulating huge contracts of overpaid underachievers resulted in a 23-59 record paired with the league's highest payroll of $130 million?
(Head coach Larry Brown, axed after that awful season, is no dummy; perhaps he loathed associating with these guys so much that he purposely tanked in order to be "fired"/bought out of his misery for $18.5 million.) Or was it when the buyouts didn't end there, and Dolan shelled out another $14 million and then $30 million (both amounts including luxury tax penalties) to Maurice Taylor and Jalen Rose, respectively, in order to secure their unconditional releases and allow the Knicks to acquire more players and incur additional luxury taxes? For a full litany of the Knicks's struggles since the volatile Dolan, a recovering addict prone to "treating people like shit," was named CEO of Cablevision by his father in 1995, check out Sean Cunningham's History of the Decline and Fall of the New York Knickerbockers for Esquire.Back to the present hostile environment, Thomas of course vehemently asserted that he was "extremely disappointed that the jury could not see the facts" and will appeal the decision. Meanwhile, SportsCenter reported early Wednesday morning that the NY Daily News quoted Marbury as saying, "Isiah has to start me. I've got so much (stuff) on Isiah and he knows it. He thinks he can (get) me. But I'll (get) him first. You have no idea what I know."
At least Isiah isn't on the hook for Sanders' $11 million settlement. That bill also goes Dolan, the richest and most entitled daddy-made man in professional sports and sketchy Zeke's staunchest supporter. On the brighter side of things, now Dolan finally has personal inspiration to sing the blues and play rhythm guitar in his band, JD and the Straight Shot.
Nonetheless, Isiah narrowly edges out Martina Hingis on
dp's Sick Six List of Over-Emphatic Protestations of Innocence:
6. Martina Hingis: The tennis star retired last week in the wake of a positive test for cocaine on June 29 at Wimbledon. She says, "I have tested positive but I have never taken drugs and I feel 100 percent innocent.... I have no desire to spend the next several years of my life reduced to fighting against the doping officials.... I am frustrated and angry. I believe that I am absolutely, 100 percent innocent.
Here's what the PTI guys have to say:
Adding to the sense that she was overdoing her claim of "absolute, 100 percent" innocence, Hingis verbosely rambled on to say, "I find this accusation so horrendous, so monstrous, that I have decided to confront it head-on by talking to the press.... They say that cocaine increases self-confidence and creates a type of euphoria. I don't know. I only know that if I were to try to hit the ball while in any state of euphoria, it simply wouldn't work. I would think that it would be impossible for anyone to maintain the coordination required to play top class tennis while under the influence of drugs," Hingis added, displaying accurate knowledge of the drug's effects. Hingis lost in the third round on the day she tested positive, but she assures us that her lawyers can prove her innocence. Who knows? Perhaps the "Swiss Miss" consumed a tainted packet of instant hot chocolate powder.
5. Original "Bad Boy" Isiah Thomas:
Concerning his sexual harassment conviction, Isiah told a throng of reporters outside the courtroom, "I want to say it as loud as I possibly can. I'm innocent. I'm very innocent." Of course, true innocence need not be qualified with the redundant "very" and would thus only be used by a (very) guilty criminal.
4. Rafael Palmeiro:Just months before being suspended for testing positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol, Palmeiro wagged his finger before Congress and testified, "I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never." Of course, the second never negates the first, and the resulting double-negative equals a positive steroid test. If only Palmeiro had taken elementary math (or non-juiced Vitamin B-12 shots) instead of simple reverse-psychology.
3. Pete Rose: "I never bet on baseball." Oh, wait, actually he did, and he'll tell you all about it in his best-selling autobiography, My Prison Without Bars. Seriously, go buy a copy. One dollar of every copy sold goes directly to the IRS, and two dollars go toward Rose's "lock" in the daily No. 9 race at Santa Anita. Come 0n, give the old boy something to do while he waits in vain to be reinstated by Bud Selig and consequently enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
2. Marion Jones: Perhaps the saddest story of all, fool's golden girl Jones recently came clean about using performance-enhancing drugs during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where she won five medals, including three golds.
1. O.J. Simpson: Even though he's admitted to "masterminding" a plot to forcibly enter a Las Vegas hotel room with the intent of taking sports memorabilia "stolen" from him by unscrupulous dealers, doesn't everyone believe O.J's claims that there were no guns involved and that all of the junk was rightfully his anyway? In a move familiar to amateur poker players, Simpson practically invented the old "act strong when you're weak, and act weak when you're strong" tactic. (Remember the defense's argument that the battered Juice was too debilitated after his Hall of Fame pro football career to even wield a knife in the manner required to violently murder Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman? "Your honor, I'm only able to powerfully stiff arm, not vengefully stab, defenders to the ground.")To steer dp's meandering scope back where it started, dp hopes that Zeke and Starbury don't stop at the kissing part of making up; they should continue their love affair indefinitely. This makes sense on multiple levels:
1. Both playmakers have already expressed a desire to pursue sexual relationships in the work place.
2. Both know how to score off a backdoor cut.
3. The ensuing media bonanza celebrating the NBA's first open gay relationship would generate huge interest and expand the Knick's fan base, which would in turn increase revenue that could supplement Dolan's operational costs of poor performance, payroll mismanagement, executive favoritism/nepotism/sexism, and professional lechery. Not to mention the fact that this backcourt combo would transcend even the metrosexual model of modern man and take coolness to a whole new level. Short of the Knicks winning the NBA championship (Vegas has optimistically posted 60-1 odds), this is the best possible news for which fans can hope.
Boston Celtics (6-0, three synergistic superstars, two previously embattled but currently thrilled leaders)
Simply put, KG and the Celtics are killing it. dp was there for The Big Three's home opener versus Washington on Friday, Nov. 2. Check out the energy of the TD Banknorth (bleh!) Garden during introductions:
dp attended the game with three of his college roommates, Boston's original Flickster trio, Ron "Jeremy" Mazza, John "Not Ryan" Flynn, and Zed Fong-Torres. Predictably, Milwaukee native dp was the only one of the bunch to pick Ray Allen as the best-looking member of Boston's Big Three when surveyed by an ESPN Magazine reporter. Presumably, the NBA's last undefeated team will lose at some point, but possibly never to a (L)Eastern Conference team. Boston GM Kevin McHale, er, Danny Ainge, and "coach" Doc Rivers rejoice.
Los Angeles Lakers (3-3, tenth in Western conference, one superstar's impossible trade demand)
Paradoxically, Los Angeles has almost no chance of completing a Kobe trade because Bryant holds the NBA's only active no-trade clause and will only approve a deal that he thinks will enable his prospective team to compete for a championship; the Lakers would consider any such deal patently unfair to their own future interests and thus fail to pull the trigger. Despite the unlikelihood of a deal happening, speculation will continue unchecked because the Lakers cannot come out and declare that Kobe won't be traded. They are prevented from doing so by the terms of the pact that Kobe and Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss hashed out this summer in Barcelona. Buss promised Kobe that he would at least listen to trade offers, while in return Kobe promised to play hard and publicly support the Lakers. Perhaps the most entertaining aspect of the Kobe trade drama is watching other teams implode. The Bulls have been intensely scrutinized as having the inside track in the Kobe sweepstakes, and the talented team (49-33 last year) has fallen apart on the court with an atrocious 1-5 start. Meanwhile, Kobe's former companion, Shaquille O'Neal, isn't even a shade of his former self, and the Heat, desperate for Dwyane Wade's return, are playing so badly in accumulating a 1-6 record that Pat Riley is considering suiting up himself.
That's about the tenth of it. Check back in three weeks for dp's 20% Season Report: Five Surprises a Fifth of the Way, which will include:
-dp's first Double Deuce Slotter, his Top 22 teams (11 each in the East and West)
- First quarter Division Grades for the Atlantic (Boston, Toronto, Jersey, New York, Philly); the Central (Detroit, Cleveland, Indiana, Milwaukee, Chicago); the Southeast (Washington, Orlando, Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami); the Northwest (Utah, Denver, Portland, Minny, Seattle); the Texas Blues (San Antonio, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Memphis); and CaliZona (Phoenix, Clippers, Lakers, Sactown, Golden State)
Monday, November 12, 2007
Week 10 Recap: Bad As You Wanna Be
dp's disappointing performance in Week 10 predictions (2-3 record) marked his second losing week of the season (also 2-3 in Week 5).
But sometimes, like the kids say, bad is good.
Overall, dp went 6-8 in Week 10, tied with Week 4 for his worst record of the year. Yet even with this seemingly underwhelming performance, dp finished fourth (of 22) in his weekly picks league. How, you ask? Well, the answer is easy. Even though dp didn't have the gumption to predict any of the rash of upsets in Week 10 (including the Saints' loss to previously winless St. Louis, Tennessee's loss to Jacksonville, Baltimore's loss to Cincy, Indy's loss to San Diego, Kansas City's loss to Denver, Carolina's loss to Atlanta, and Washington's loss to Philly), he also didn't feel all that good in backing these prohibitive "favorites," and therefore devalued the confidence index accordingly. Granted, New Orleans was dp's lock of the week (16 points on the confidence index), which hurt, but no one else pick them to lose either, so it didn't matter too much.
dp's only consolation comes via a recent Spanish study examining rehydration after strenuous exercise.
Week 10 record: 2-3 (6-8 overall)
Season record: 25-17 (94-50 overall)
But sometimes, like the kids say, bad is good.
Overall, dp went 6-8 in Week 10, tied with Week 4 for his worst record of the year. Yet even with this seemingly underwhelming performance, dp finished fourth (of 22) in his weekly picks league. How, you ask? Well, the answer is easy. Even though dp didn't have the gumption to predict any of the rash of upsets in Week 10 (including the Saints' loss to previously winless St. Louis, Tennessee's loss to Jacksonville, Baltimore's loss to Cincy, Indy's loss to San Diego, Kansas City's loss to Denver, Carolina's loss to Atlanta, and Washington's loss to Philly), he also didn't feel all that good in backing these prohibitive "favorites," and therefore devalued the confidence index accordingly. Granted, New Orleans was dp's lock of the week (16 points on the confidence index), which hurt, but no one else pick them to lose either, so it didn't matter too much.
dp's only consolation comes via a recent Spanish study examining rehydration after strenuous exercise.
Week 10 record: 2-3 (6-8 overall)
Season record: 25-17 (94-50 overall)
Sunday, November 11, 2007
NFL Week 10 Picks
Detroit at Arizona (-1)
The early line was even, but Arizona has become a slight favorite. It may seem crazy that the 6-2 Lions are an underdog against the 3-5 Cardinals, but Detroit is only 2-2 on the road while Arizona is 2-1 at home. Additionally, the Cardinals very well may have the edge in overall talent, particularly on offense with RB Edgerrin James and WRs Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Yet Ken Whisenhunt's Cards have folded in big spots all year long, while Rod Marinelli's Lions have overachieved and could earn him Coach of the Year honors. Detroit will find a way to steal a key road win.
Philly at Washington (-3)
If you tune into ESPN's Swami, Chris Berman, or SI's Dr. Z, Paul Zimmerman, Philly is both pundits' pick for this week's upset special. Maybe the dharma prince just doesn't want to be in doghouse (Lady FLICK is a born-and-raised Skins fan), but dp doesn't see it happening. Washington may look bad, but winning ugly is the name of the game in D.C. The Redskins will get it done.
Buffalo (-2.5) at Miami
Buffalo's sluggish offense doesn't leave much room for error, but the Bills showed last week in their win over Cincy that hey can put some points on the board against a bad defense. Miami may be coming off a bye week, but the Dolphin D is still lacking. Buffalo will grind out another W against the winless Fins.
Cincy at Baltimore (-5.5 opening line, now at -3)
Both teams sputter into this one on two-game losing streaks. Last week dp vowed to never again to back the disappointing Bungles, who sure enough gave away another winnable game to Buffalo. That's what 2-6 teams do. Chincy's nonexistent defense couldn't stop a beaker with a rubber cork. Yet Baltimore's offense is so offensive that it couldn't score sympathy from Mother Teresa. Even worse, the Ravens' only real threat, RB Willis McGahee, is questionable after suffering a concussion. So something's gotta give here. Sticking with the never-bet-on-Bengals maxim, dp reluctantly picks the Ravens.
Dallas (-1.5) at New York
In the marquee matchup of the week, the Cowboys visit the Giants, who want revenge for their Week 1 45-35 shootout loss in Big D. This one won't be as high-scoring, but the result will be the same. After Tony Romo outplays Eli Manning, look for him to make a splash in the Big Apple's club scene. What forbidden fruit will Tony taste next? He's already been linked to Carrie Underwood, Jessica Simpson, and Britney Spears....
The early line was even, but Arizona has become a slight favorite. It may seem crazy that the 6-2 Lions are an underdog against the 3-5 Cardinals, but Detroit is only 2-2 on the road while Arizona is 2-1 at home. Additionally, the Cardinals very well may have the edge in overall talent, particularly on offense with RB Edgerrin James and WRs Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Yet Ken Whisenhunt's Cards have folded in big spots all year long, while Rod Marinelli's Lions have overachieved and could earn him Coach of the Year honors. Detroit will find a way to steal a key road win.
Philly at Washington (-3)
If you tune into ESPN's Swami, Chris Berman, or SI's Dr. Z, Paul Zimmerman, Philly is both pundits' pick for this week's upset special. Maybe the dharma prince just doesn't want to be in doghouse (Lady FLICK is a born-and-raised Skins fan), but dp doesn't see it happening. Washington may look bad, but winning ugly is the name of the game in D.C. The Redskins will get it done.
Buffalo (-2.5) at Miami
Buffalo's sluggish offense doesn't leave much room for error, but the Bills showed last week in their win over Cincy that hey can put some points on the board against a bad defense. Miami may be coming off a bye week, but the Dolphin D is still lacking. Buffalo will grind out another W against the winless Fins.
Cincy at Baltimore (-5.5 opening line, now at -3)
Both teams sputter into this one on two-game losing streaks. Last week dp vowed to never again to back the disappointing Bungles, who sure enough gave away another winnable game to Buffalo. That's what 2-6 teams do. Chincy's nonexistent defense couldn't stop a beaker with a rubber cork. Yet Baltimore's offense is so offensive that it couldn't score sympathy from Mother Teresa. Even worse, the Ravens' only real threat, RB Willis McGahee, is questionable after suffering a concussion. So something's gotta give here. Sticking with the never-bet-on-Bengals maxim, dp reluctantly picks the Ravens.
Dallas (-1.5) at New York
In the marquee matchup of the week, the Cowboys visit the Giants, who want revenge for their Week 1 45-35 shootout loss in Big D. This one won't be as high-scoring, but the result will be the same. After Tony Romo outplays Eli Manning, look for him to make a splash in the Big Apple's club scene. What forbidden fruit will Tony taste next? He's already been linked to Carrie Underwood, Jessica Simpson, and Britney Spears....
Friday, November 9, 2007
College Basketball Preview: An LA Story
Focus on Hoops
The NCAA basketball season tips off this week, and with California's college football teams producing nothing but sour grapes this fall, sports fans (and the diehards at the Taft Chamber of Commerce weekly sit-and-sip) should shift their focus to the hardwood floor. Indeed, hope— and hype— now turn toward hoops. UCLA boasts championship hope with the No. 2 preseason ranking while USC screams hype with the coming of all-world recruit O.J. Mayo. Let's just hope the Sauce doesn't turn out like the Juice, that other O.J. of USC lore.
The Juice...
USC Preview
Widely regarded as the best player to come out of high school since LeBron James, this O.J. is no joke. In all likelihood Mayo will be gone after one year, as he is projected to be a top-three pick in the 2008 NBA draft. In the meantime, the man in the No. 32 jersey (worn in homage to Tinseltown titan Magic Johnson) will bring an all-around game along with star power to a USC hoops squad historically overshadowed by those other Trojans in helmets and shoulder pads. Yet third-year coach Tim Floyd, even more than Mayo, deserves credit for boosting the basketball team’s status both on campus and on the national stage. The Trojans enter the season ranked No. 18, and Floyd will only add sparkle to an impressive resume that includes last season’s school-record 25 wins and second Sweet 16 appearance since Magic faced Bird in the 1979 title game. Additionally, Floyd has done a phenomenal job recruiting, bringing in the nation’s top freshmen class. Mayo, who will play shooting guard, is naturally the crown jewel, but he will be joined in the starting lineup and quite possibly next year’s NBA draft by power forward Davon Jefferson. These talented youngsters will help compensate for the loss of first-round pick Nick Young, second-round pick Gabe Pruitt, and Lodrick Stewart, who were the three leading scorers on last year’s team. Rounding out the starting five are point guard Daniel Hackett, small forward Dwight Lewis, and center Taj Gibson, all of whom logged significant minutes last season. This bunch is young, hungry, and eager to compete for a Pac-10 title. With a solid foundation in place, Floyd ultimately aspires to build a program that can compete with UCLA’s venerable tradition, and the success of this year’s team is crucial to that development.
UCLA Preview: Big Love
While USC may feature this year’s top recruiting class, it’s not like their crosstown rivals are bottom feeders; in fact, UCLA coach Ben Howland has already secured a 2008 incoming group (highlighted by Jrue Holiday) that will probably end up as the nation’s finest. More importantly, the Bruins are loaded this year. Fresh off back-to-back Final Four appearances in which they lost to two-time defending champion Florida in the 2006 title game and last year's semifinal game, UCLA is already nipping at the North Carolina Tar Heels’ preseason No. 1 ranking. Granted, top scorer Aaron Afflalo is gone as a first-round NBA draft pick, but his departure is offset by the arrival of freshman center Kevin Love (above left), the best frosh prospect not named O.J. No less an authority than the Wizard of Westwood John Wooden has already likened Love to legendary Pauley Pavilion pivots like Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton. Love’s athleticism, strong rebounding, and nifty passing skills could very well mean that Mayo won’t even be the top freshman in the Pac-10. Meanwhile Howland can rely on four returning starters to surround Love. A first-team All-Pac-10 selection last year, junior point guard Darren Collison could have been a lottery pick, but he has returned in hopes of leading the Bruins to the national championship. Junior Josh Shipp, second in scoring to Afflalo in ‘06/07, joins Collison to form the nation’s best backcourt. The frontcourt looks to be very strong as well. The arrival of Love means that junior Luc Ricard Mbah a Moute can capitalize on his versatility by logging time at both forward spots. Love, on account of his superior passing, may actually play the four at times to allow senior Lorenzo Mata-Real to do the dirty work at center. All told, this team looks to win the Pac-10, earn a No. 1 NCAA tournament seed, and play deep into March.
Rivalry Renewed
Then again, if the football season is any indicator, UCLA's current No. 2 ranking is as good as fool's gold. USC and Cal (plus Southern Florida and Boston College) have suffered embarrassing defeats while occupying the deuce slot. Football fans can rest assured that one of these teams will win on Saturday because USC visits Cal to do battle in Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium, sometimes dubbed “Tightwad Hill” for the free show it offers thrifty hilltoppers, as former Taft High basketball star and USC superfan Bob Hampton reminded us at this week's Chamber sit-and-sip. At this point, it’s certainly understandable that fans are reluctant to pay to see these two disappointing teams (not to mention Tom Mayo’s 5-4 ugly Bruins) do battle on the gridiron. If Hampton wants to focus on something more hopeful and hype-worthy than the beating of the dead Trojan football horse, then he should stick to college hoops from here on out. If nothing else, Hampton can root for O.J. "The Sauce" Mayo, who is clearly no relation to the Trojan-loathing Tom Mayo. We'll have to wait until Jan. 19 when UCLA hosts USC to discover which Mayo gets to spread bragging rights from Los Angeles to Taft.
The NCAA basketball season tips off this week, and with California's college football teams producing nothing but sour grapes this fall, sports fans (and the diehards at the Taft Chamber of Commerce weekly sit-and-sip) should shift their focus to the hardwood floor. Indeed, hope— and hype— now turn toward hoops. UCLA boasts championship hope with the No. 2 preseason ranking while USC screams hype with the coming of all-world recruit O.J. Mayo. Let's just hope the Sauce doesn't turn out like the Juice, that other O.J. of USC lore.
The Sauce...
The Juice...
USC Preview
Widely regarded as the best player to come out of high school since LeBron James, this O.J. is no joke. In all likelihood Mayo will be gone after one year, as he is projected to be a top-three pick in the 2008 NBA draft. In the meantime, the man in the No. 32 jersey (worn in homage to Tinseltown titan Magic Johnson) will bring an all-around game along with star power to a USC hoops squad historically overshadowed by those other Trojans in helmets and shoulder pads. Yet third-year coach Tim Floyd, even more than Mayo, deserves credit for boosting the basketball team’s status both on campus and on the national stage. The Trojans enter the season ranked No. 18, and Floyd will only add sparkle to an impressive resume that includes last season’s school-record 25 wins and second Sweet 16 appearance since Magic faced Bird in the 1979 title game. Additionally, Floyd has done a phenomenal job recruiting, bringing in the nation’s top freshmen class. Mayo, who will play shooting guard, is naturally the crown jewel, but he will be joined in the starting lineup and quite possibly next year’s NBA draft by power forward Davon Jefferson. These talented youngsters will help compensate for the loss of first-round pick Nick Young, second-round pick Gabe Pruitt, and Lodrick Stewart, who were the three leading scorers on last year’s team. Rounding out the starting five are point guard Daniel Hackett, small forward Dwight Lewis, and center Taj Gibson, all of whom logged significant minutes last season. This bunch is young, hungry, and eager to compete for a Pac-10 title. With a solid foundation in place, Floyd ultimately aspires to build a program that can compete with UCLA’s venerable tradition, and the success of this year’s team is crucial to that development.
UCLA Preview: Big LoveWhile USC may feature this year’s top recruiting class, it’s not like their crosstown rivals are bottom feeders; in fact, UCLA coach Ben Howland has already secured a 2008 incoming group (highlighted by Jrue Holiday) that will probably end up as the nation’s finest. More importantly, the Bruins are loaded this year. Fresh off back-to-back Final Four appearances in which they lost to two-time defending champion Florida in the 2006 title game and last year's semifinal game, UCLA is already nipping at the North Carolina Tar Heels’ preseason No. 1 ranking. Granted, top scorer Aaron Afflalo is gone as a first-round NBA draft pick, but his departure is offset by the arrival of freshman center Kevin Love (above left), the best frosh prospect not named O.J. No less an authority than the Wizard of Westwood John Wooden has already likened Love to legendary Pauley Pavilion pivots like Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton. Love’s athleticism, strong rebounding, and nifty passing skills could very well mean that Mayo won’t even be the top freshman in the Pac-10. Meanwhile Howland can rely on four returning starters to surround Love. A first-team All-Pac-10 selection last year, junior point guard Darren Collison could have been a lottery pick, but he has returned in hopes of leading the Bruins to the national championship. Junior Josh Shipp, second in scoring to Afflalo in ‘06/07, joins Collison to form the nation’s best backcourt. The frontcourt looks to be very strong as well. The arrival of Love means that junior Luc Ricard Mbah a Moute can capitalize on his versatility by logging time at both forward spots. Love, on account of his superior passing, may actually play the four at times to allow senior Lorenzo Mata-Real to do the dirty work at center. All told, this team looks to win the Pac-10, earn a No. 1 NCAA tournament seed, and play deep into March.
Rivalry Renewed
Then again, if the football season is any indicator, UCLA's current No. 2 ranking is as good as fool's gold. USC and Cal (plus Southern Florida and Boston College) have suffered embarrassing defeats while occupying the deuce slot. Football fans can rest assured that one of these teams will win on Saturday because USC visits Cal to do battle in Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium, sometimes dubbed “Tightwad Hill” for the free show it offers thrifty hilltoppers, as former Taft High basketball star and USC superfan Bob Hampton reminded us at this week's Chamber sit-and-sip. At this point, it’s certainly understandable that fans are reluctant to pay to see these two disappointing teams (not to mention Tom Mayo’s 5-4 ugly Bruins) do battle on the gridiron. If Hampton wants to focus on something more hopeful and hype-worthy than the beating of the dead Trojan football horse, then he should stick to college hoops from here on out. If nothing else, Hampton can root for O.J. "The Sauce" Mayo, who is clearly no relation to the Trojan-loathing Tom Mayo. We'll have to wait until Jan. 19 when UCLA hosts USC to discover which Mayo gets to spread bragging rights from Los Angeles to Taft.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Week 9 NFL Recap: Knowledge is Power
Despite notching a second consecutive 4-1 week, dp laments his one loss: Atlanta beat San Francisco 20-16 to prevent dp's prediction perfection.
Unfortunately, dp's defining premise for backing the 49ers was the belief that RB Frank Gore, listed as questionable on the injury report, would actually play, and play well, against the Falcons. Gore suffered an ankle injury two weeks ago against the Giants, but he played last week against the Saints, so dp figured he would be fine on Sunday. Therein lies the danger in making picks on Friday (or even Saturday). dp was dismayed to learn about an hour before kickoff that Gore was in fact inactive for the game. Unfortunately, while dp immediately wanted to flip his pick and back the Falcons, this last-minute switch was impossible because dp was stuck in traffic on his way back to New Haven from Boston, where he had traveled to catch the Celtics home opener against the Wizards on Friday. (Note to self: obtain I-phone to ensure full internet access during future road trips.)
Oh well. Detroit blew out Denver 44-7, Cleveland roared back from a 21-6 deficit to eke past Seattle 33-30 in overtime, and both Buffalo (33-21 over Cincy) and Green Bay (33-22 over Kansas City) made exciting fourth-quarter comebacks to pull out victories, which dp enjoyed watching simultaneously with the Bills backers at dp's neighborhood pub, Anna Liffey's. With friends like Gary the bartender, dp could be mistaken for that other Dude....
Week 9: 4-1 (11-3 overall)
Season: 23-14 (88-42 overall)
Unfortunately, dp's defining premise for backing the 49ers was the belief that RB Frank Gore, listed as questionable on the injury report, would actually play, and play well, against the Falcons. Gore suffered an ankle injury two weeks ago against the Giants, but he played last week against the Saints, so dp figured he would be fine on Sunday. Therein lies the danger in making picks on Friday (or even Saturday). dp was dismayed to learn about an hour before kickoff that Gore was in fact inactive for the game. Unfortunately, while dp immediately wanted to flip his pick and back the Falcons, this last-minute switch was impossible because dp was stuck in traffic on his way back to New Haven from Boston, where he had traveled to catch the Celtics home opener against the Wizards on Friday. (Note to self: obtain I-phone to ensure full internet access during future road trips.)
Oh well. Detroit blew out Denver 44-7, Cleveland roared back from a 21-6 deficit to eke past Seattle 33-30 in overtime, and both Buffalo (33-21 over Cincy) and Green Bay (33-22 over Kansas City) made exciting fourth-quarter comebacks to pull out victories, which dp enjoyed watching simultaneously with the Bills backers at dp's neighborhood pub, Anna Liffey's. With friends like Gary the bartender, dp could be mistaken for that other Dude....
Week 9: 4-1 (11-3 overall)
Season: 23-14 (88-42 overall)
Saturday, November 3, 2007
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