Now the REAL NBA Season Begins!

OK, So yes yes...... Derek and I have been stale a little bit, while he was sick I was....... "sick". OK, so I was lazy. I realized that I kept checking the blog to see if D-Rae posted, if he didn't, neither did I. Talk about commitment.

With all jokes aside I just got done finishing yet another NBA All-Star game where yet again I got excited Friday night to just be disappointed by Dwight Howard being "superman" and trying to impress us by lifting the hoop two feet in which we knew he could jam that easily anyway. I love Howard to death and I think he brings a lot to the game but I have to admit that the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest may just turn into the Dwight Howard Variety Show. Every year he is going to break out the Superman cape and every year we will have to hear Kenny "the jet" Smith try and eat his microphone while screaming his catch phrases like, "It's over!!!!" and "Goodnight ladies and gentlemen!!!" While Earnie Johnson pretends that he is amused with that subtle giggle he gives.

The game was alright, I was even slightly impressed with the West's 19-0 run but then I remembered that this is an All-Star game so no defense is allowed right? Kobe and Shaq got the hardware for MVP's which ran shivers down my spine since I love the Lakers and miss those days with the dynamic duo.

With all the festivities aside now we will finally get a bigger audience watching the NBA. People are starting to realize that the NFL is over and their only choice over the NBA is the NHL, PGA, or Nascar...I'm hoping the NBA wins this viewing contest. So the second half of the season is beginning and I already have some thoughts and predictions to write down (by the way, I'm going to do this in list form, just because it looks cool).

1st: Terry Porter is out of the big sun, possibly the best decision the Suns make all year. It will be interesting how this Amare Stoudimire thing works out... could be the Pau Gasol trade of this year.

2nd: On the west side of things, Lakers are top dog, but I'm going to put Denver in 2nd, and Portland in 3rd when it comes to playoff time. Portland and Denver are two dangerous underrated teams in my book.

3rd: On the East side of things, I still like Boston at one, Cleveland at two. But don't be surprised if Miami, Detroit, or Atlanta could land in that 3rd spot. With Nelson out in Orlando, it could be a 4th or 5th seed kind of year for the Magic, with Nelson out, that's a big blow.

4th: This is a side note, watch out for Memphis in about three or four years. They have a Portland Trailblazers feel to them and I think they will turn some heads in a few. Oh and I DO NOT like the Miami-Toronto trade. Since when does a player make a game winning dunk and then gets shipped out to Canada....eh?

5th: I'm expecting a pretty good second half, not as good as last years though since the west is weaker, and the whole Boston Three Party feel has worn off. I'm expecting Kobe and Lebron to take most of the headlines from here on out, with a couple of trade talks in the early going. There will be regular discussions if the Cavs could take down Boston in the playoffs, and the same for the Spurs taking down the Lakers.

This is where the REAL NBA season begins. It should be a good one. Hopefully America....hopefully.

-J.J.

The King (just not of the All Star game)

I don't know about everyone else but I was witness to this year's NBA All Star game. Let me tell you,  if you missed the game I'll just say that you didn't necessarily miss anything. The highlights for me included seeing LeBron display his 'great' outside shot and him shank a couple dunks. Is it just me or did Jordan, not Jordan but Wizards Jordan, missed one dunk and got ostracized. LeBron missed a couple and I'll predict that we don't hear anything about it in the coming week. I'm happy that Kobe and Shaq were the co-MVPs. I'd really like for Shaq and Bryant to get reunited but I'm sure we won't see that (please new Suns admin!!!!). I enjoyed Shaq breaking it down with god knows what the name of that dance team is but I really liked him making a fool of Superman on the between the legs give and go. As for LeBron... here is hoping that those missed dunks will come at more crucial times in this season and seasons to come.

It's been awhile!

Ok, so I've been a big wuss lately and haven't posted in a little over a week. To my credit I've been sick and the doctor pulled a Heath Ledger (too soon?) and prescribed me medicine that I'm allergic to. This is my note that we are still working on the blog but the posts may become less frequent as our semesters pick up.

A-Rod, A-Rod, A-Rod!

Thanks to you, Phelps gets to be thrown on the back burner. Cheating on your younger hotter wife with Madonna was bad enough but now this lol. Does anyone know how old Madonna really is? or where all she has been? I'm kind of kidding. I know that the steroids happened in the past but does the MLB want this to linger on forever? I think that they should do one of two things. Either make steroids legal and just call it MLB Slugfest or say from this point on in 2009 players have a blank slate but punishments will come after this with more strict testing. I personally favor the just make steroids legal. I just don't think that the MLB can put this behind them. When the best players of this generation (Clemens, Bonds, Rodriguez) have all been caught, where else can you go?

Dunk Contest

This year's dunk contest was fairly disappointing to me. I think that Rudy was snubbed on his second dunk with the alley oop by Pau Gasol. It took him his full attempts but he eventually got it and the movement for that rap around was worth way more than 42 or 43. I'm just saying... I like both Nate the Great and Superman but it just didn't fall out the way I wanted it to. I think Nate played it the way he should've and won because of it but I think that Superman Howard played out his dunks in the wrong order. He shoul Fernandez d've brought out the extended hoop in the final round and then jumped clean over Nate. I'm not talking about his crotch sliding over his head but to have Howard's feet clear over Nate's head on the 12' hoop. This would've been a perfect closer going into the next year against LeBron (who I bet doesn't sign up).

 

UNRELATED TO SPORTS : Chris Brown and Rihanna

Will this grow into the tumultuous relationship known as Bobby and Whitney? I used to think that Brown was a nice guy and had some good music but there are no excuses for laying a finger on a woman. I don't know what happened in the altercation but I lost a lot of respect for Brown and just hope that Rihanna sets a good example to her fans by walking away from him.

Sweep the Series against the Cavs and the Celtics...........Check.

Now I'm not going to write an article about A-Rod because I simply couldn't care anymore, baseball is all about who's cheating and who's not and it is just turned into a finger pointing sport.

Now I will talk about the Los Angeles Lakers, (I know I know, they are my team, but they have much reason to be written about) The Lakers have accomplished what everyone has wanted them to. First, came the Christmas day showdown between defending champ Celtics. They beat them by 9. OK well they have to beat the Cavs, well, they did that too. They beat them soundly but Cleveland was facing injury problems and the Lakers were on their home floor. (because the Cavs "can't" be beat on their home court) Next came the game on Thursday, where the Lake Show had to travel to Boston to beat the C's on their home court, oh, and they are missing star center Bynum.

They can't beat the C's in Boston could they? I mean, the last time they were there they got blown out by 39 in the finals remember? So they can't beat them right!?!?

Well, they did. Yes, yes, believe it or not, the Lakers have turned some heads by showing that they can win without Bynum whether it be Kobe dropping 61, or Kobe dishing out dimes and playing tough D, and letting Gasol get the fatty stat line.

OK so the big game on Sunday, the purple and gold had to travel to Ohio and beat Bron' Bron' and the 23-0 home court record Cavs.

They couldn't win that game could they???

Yep. They can. They did it in a surprising way too..... Lamar Odom had one heck of a stat line.

28 points 17 rebounds.

A while back the skinny Rhode Island man didn't even start on this team.

So what do these series sweeps say about this team out west. It says that this team is good, really good. They haven't just beaten these teams, they have beaten these teams while many easterners (which have the best basketball conference this year, yes....... they really do) believed that these Lakers could not beat these two Eastern Conference giants. The surprising element in these four wins is the way that they have won these games. These four wins haven't happened because Kobe dropped 50 on each, they have won by playing team basketball, good defense, and good shooting.

After the big loss in Boston a few months ago in the Finals, I wondered about this team, if they were tough enough, or if Kobe could really lead this team to a ring without a big name star, (believe it or not, I still do not think that Gasol is that big of a star) and this is the team that has answered all my questions. They have great bench play by Trevor Ariza, and Jordan Farmar especially. They have gotten tougher defensivly and even with Bynum out (again) I still believe this team is tougher. Kobe has COMPLETELY evolved into a leader that will sacrifice points for wins, (something that I would never imagine in the 2005-2006 season) and everyone knows their role on this squad and is in their place.

With these four big wins we have seen them prove these questions we all had as we watched Boston raise the trophy last year........and they proved it pretty well.

-J.J.

p.s. Adam Morrison is now a Laker, that is some of the best sports news I've heard in a while

Even With Big Bynum Blow, Light Still Shines With Kobe's 61

First of all, I'm not going to write a blog about the Super Bowl because it ended controversial with no official booth review at Kurt Warner's "fumble". Congrats to the Steelers, even though I hate them.

Now, on to my main topic, who else but my favorite athlete in the whole entire world, Kobe Bryant.

After the huge and sickening blow I felt after I heard the news on Lakers center Andrew Bynum tearing his MCL (I feel for him, I've torn my MCL before as well....... stupid snowmobiles) it seemed like yet again the Lakers would have to deal with another half season or so without Andrew Bynum. Then I got the ESPN alert last night that the Lakers beat the Knicks in MSG and Kobe had a heckuva (yes, that's a word, they put it in ESPN magazine so it must be legit) stat line including 61 points.

Then I became relaxed again. See, this is what Kobe does, he transforms himself into the player he needs to be. Just a few days ago, everyone was talking about Kobe not needing to put in as many points but he has now become a defensive leader for the Laker squad. Then Bynum goes down and he throws down 61 points (20-20 from the free throw line) in New York where no other Knick opponent has done before (a little side note, he broke this guy named MJ's record).

Now I'm not saying that Kobe is better then MJ. He's not, Kobe is Kobe. I'm just saying that the veteran Kobe (a few years ago all Kobe Bryant was about is scoring and hogging the ball, we all remember) has been able to transform himself into the player he needs to be to have the best chance of the Lakers getting the W.

Bynum out? I'm not scared one bit. Unless he is out for the playoffs, then we have some problems.

p.s. Sorry for the short blog today, the stress of college homework is starting to finally way down on me.

-J.J.

Shame on you Mr. Phelps!

Yes I know. The Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl. At least I had the winner correct in my prediction. I'm still disappointed in the Cardinals. Not that they lost the game but that they had to lose by such a close margin and in that particular way. I don't know if this would've helped anything but Fitzgerald needed to pull a Westbrook and fall down at the one yard line that way there wouldn't have been so much time on the clock. Sure they still would've needed the TD but it's another way to look at it.

Now to the headline, Michael Phelps was recently put on the cover of a tabloid called the News of the World. On the cover picture, Phelps is seen partaking in a little puff puff pass on the University of South Carolina campus. An anonymous source was quoted as saying that Phelps looked as comfortable with a bong in his hands as he does in a pool. This is the second time that Phelps has taken part in a disappointing behavior for the American role model. For those that don't remember Phelps was caught in 2004 drunk driving at the age of 19 immediately following the Olympic games in Athens.

For the second offense, Phelps should be punished in someway or at least given some negative media. So far all that has happened is that the Olympic committee is telling him how disappointed they are and he promises that nothing like this will ever happen again. Now I don't have a quote but I'm sure he made some kind of promise like this after driving intoxicated. On top of everything all of his sponsors are completely backing him. I don't look down upon those that use "recreational" drugs but Michael Phelps, with all 14 of his gold medals, is reaching Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods status where he is expected to act a little more responsible. Yeah, Jordan had his gambling problems but this is a little more serious if you ask me. Personally I forgot about his drunk driving at age 19 so my first reaction was by god the guy is human.

Next person: Tim Tebow. Whether he is smoking drugs or something else, this guy is just too perfect in the limelight. I give him a couple years after his senior year before we find out what all the missionary boy is really a part of... just kidding... but seriously.

- D-Rae

Super Bowl

Well the day is finally upon us. What is everyone eating for the big game? Do you have a traditional food/meal/snack during the big one? I would be eating my pops' famous chip dip but across the country so I'll probably find my way to a Super Bowl Party that is dealing out free food. More importantly, Colbert of Colbert Report (you don't pronounce the t's) has stated that we are currently in a nationwide wing shortage so I'm hoping that everyone can find a tasty alternative and that we don't have to result to eating Cardinal wings that the Steelers prepare for us later tonight.

I think that the underdog finally gets stopped today (don't mistake that with who I want to win). I know that the Cards line hasn't given up that many sacks and that Warner is a veteran QB that knows how to get rid of the ball quickly. The scary thing is that during certain moments the Eagles looked like they had figured out how to stop the offense. Whether that is because of good play on the defense or because of increasingly conservative calls, I'll never know.

I just woke up this morning not feeling the Cards' chances in this game. They say all good things must come to an end and I believe we might see that for Warner and this team. President Obama has even stated that he is a Bears fan first but a Steelers fan second. Now if you are ref during this game, do you help the Steelers with the hope that Obama may give you more beneficial tax cuts or bonuses than the other refs? I think you most certainly do. We've already seen another NFC West team jipped out of a Super Bowl by the referees (Pitt vs Seattle) and I got a feeling it may not even come to that today.

Prediction

Pittsburgh 24  (At least 1 Def/Special Teams TD)

Arizona      10  

I hope that my prediction is incorrect but after mulling it over it just feels right.

- D-Rae