I Like The Way Snrub Thinks

There's only one thing Snoop Dogg loves more than weed; and that's hockey. But Snoop's marriage to hip-hop culture has forced him to take his passion for the NHL underground, which is why he has to wear fake mustaches to the Stanley Cup Finals.
It might seem surprising to see the gangsta rap star spending time at the ice rink, but that's only because he's done such a good job of hiding his love for the sport. Early on in Snoop's career, Dr. Dre suggested he play down the love of hockey and instead focus on his love of ho's. Dre correctly theorized that Snoop would be perceived as soft if the world knew that he grew up idolizing Bobby Hull and used to spend hours imitating Maurice Richard on the Long Beach playgrounds. It's a little know fact that "Tha Shiznit" was originally entitled "(Rob Brind'Amour Is) Tha Shiznit" and that Snoop's platinum album, Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told was conceived as a concept-album tribute to Barry Melrose. It killed Snoop to supress his affinity for the game, but he knew he had to pay the cost to be the bo$$.
And the cost was quite, um, costly. The East Coast/West Coast battle actually began when Snoop argued vehemently with The Notorious B.I.G. about who was the best puck-handling centre: Yvan Cournoyer or Pierre Larouche. The verbal back-and-forth eventually escalated, with 2Pac taking Snoop's side by dissing Biggie and Puffy in the immortal battle rap "Hit Em Up (Against the Glass)". It's no coincidence that 2Pac was shot dead two months later by a man who allegedly shouted "Sic Semper Theo Fleury" while unloading his Glock.
Now, Snoop spends most of his days sneaking into ice rinks for pick-up games and watching his old VHS tapes of Montreal Canadians games. With the Stanley Cup Finals invading Anaheim, Snoop felt the need to attend, even though he was never a big Mighty Ducks fan (Teemu Selanne is a noted Blood).
Maybe the mustache stunt was a transparent attempt to get caught red-handed as a hockey fan or maybe Snoop is starring in a new movie as Gentleman Jim Corbett. Or maybe Snoop's need to go incognito at a hockey game is a signal of how much further we, as a society, still has to go. That, or Snoop was just afraid he'd be sitting near Suge Knight.

Well Done, NY Post Headline Writers... Well Done

* Yeah, but I bet he struck out when it mattered most. (I think the odds of A. Rod opting out of his Yankees contract just got a little better.)

* In the past five years, the NCAA has sanctioned a UCLA basketball player for getting taken to dinner by his teammate's father (the father happened to be Bill Walton, which apparently violated some arcane NCAA rule), needed the creation of a national media campaign before allowing a football player to receive donations in order to help raise his younger brother and told Steve Spurrier's wife to stop writing notes to players welcoming them to the South Carolina football family after they had already signed with the school.
So, the decision by the NCAA to allow Duke lacrosse players an extra year of eligibility to make up for the one that they were partially denied by the spinelessness of their school's president isn't surprising in the least. But it's just as stupid.

* I can't tell whether this is very awesome or very creepy... Probably somewhere in the middle (via Drudge).

* Astronaut Jim Lovell once said that each time he went to space, he felt just as exhilarated as he did on his maiden voyage. I have the same feeling every time I look at the A.L. East standings.

	EAST	W	L	PCT	GB
	Boston	36	15	.706	-
	Baltimore	25	27	.481	11.5
	Toronto	24	27	.471	12
	Tampa Bay	21	29	.420	14.5
	NY Yankees	21	29	.420	14.5

* Tickets to The AT&T National (Tiger Woods' inaugural tournament) at nearby Congressional Country Club are about as good a value as you'll find in sports: $20 for each weekday, $25 for Saturday or Sunday or just $65 for the entire week. A children's ticket costs $10 for any day, or about $80 less than you'd have to fork over to watch the Redskins for three hours next fall.

The Bizzaro World

Don't look now, but the Washington Nationals, winners of four straight and 11 of their last 15, are the hottest team in baseball.
Over the last 16 games, the Nats have a better record than every team in the Majors with the exception of the Angels. (The have the same 11-5 record over that span as the Red Sox, in case you were curious.) In a 162 game schedule, this Nats run is an anomoly. In the NFL, it'd be good enough for a playoff run, which is why I always say football season is the biggest crapshoot in all of sports.

Ghosts of Electricity

* There has been much fretting about the impending exiles of Greg Oden and Kevin Durant to the Pacific Northwest. I see the logic in this argument and, in fact, made it while talking about the lottery in its immediate aftermath. But now, after much soul-searching done in the wake of Sanjaya's performance with Joe Perry, I have come to a different conclusion.
It's not like the Pacific Northwest is freakin' Siberia; it's just a little out of the way. In the days of the pony express and train travel, this might have meant something, but not in today's crazy, mixed-up world.
Plus, all the complaints about how Oden and Durant won't be on TV or get any media exposure have less to do with their north/south alignment than with their east/west location. The fact that they're tucked into the corner of the continental U.S. is irrelevant; the only thing that matters is that they're on the west coast. And since being on the west coast hasn't hurt the marketability and exposure of Kobe's Lakers and Steve Nash's Suns, I fail to see how bordering the Pacific instead of the Atlantic will hurt Oden and Durant.
No, the danger isn't in location, it's in irrelevance. And if the Clippers or Hawks or Grizzlies had landed a top-two pick, Oden and Durant might have been dropped deep into the latter. (Probably less-so with the Grizz, but three examples are always better than two.)

* Georgetown center Roy Hibbert announced he was returning to Georgetown for his senior season on Wednesday, despite the fact that he would have been a near-lock for the lottery. His teammate, Big East Player of the Year Jeff Green, said he was staying in the Draft and foregoing his senior season.
Green made the right decision, because he needed to go pro. He has an NBA-ready game (think Josh Howard, minus the inexplicable drop to the late-first round) and will likely be a top-six pick. Hibbert, on the other hand, would have made the right decision no matter which decision he made. Nobody would have begrudged him if he decided to cash-in and take the money, but his decision to stay will strengthen his ever-developing game and make him as NBA-ready next year as Green was this year.
It's easy to forget how raw Hibbert was when he came to Georgetown; he had only picked up basketball four years earlier while playing down the road at Georgetown Prep (no affiliation with Georgetown University, despite a student body with similar senses of entitlement, affluence and madras shorts). He put up a few stinkers during the Big East season earlier this year, often disappearing for large stretches of the game. While it's true that they'll be nobody his size to play against in college, it's just as true that a baptism by fire in the NBA could have crippled Hibbert's blossoming from a big man with skills to a skilled big man.
With him, Georgetown is an instant-contender to get back to the Final Four. And the Georgetown Big Man's Club gets a new member.

* While everyone, including the NFL Commissioner, seems more interested in condemning those voicing support for dog-fighting instead of those actually accused of financing, hosting and promoting said dog-fighting, the fate of the 60+ dogs seized in the raid has largely been ignored. Well, good news animal lovers, all the dogs are probably going to be killed! But, yeah, let's rip on Clinton Portis for his comments while forgetting about Michael Vick for his actions; actions that are going to lead to 66 dead dogs. Morons. I suppose Roger Goodell would rather rip on Don Imus than someone convicted of a hate crime. Way to have your priorities straight, Commish.

* Duke has asked the NCAA to grant an extra year of eligibility to lacrosse players who missed part of last season thanks to the school president's spineless, cowardly decision to cancel the team's remaining schedule based on the clearly false accusations of a woman who changed her story more often than (insert politician). It's not the NCAA's fault that Duke wimped out and refused to stand by their innocent students. It's not the NCAA's fault that Duke is more concerned with their public image than with defending those falsely accused. And it's not the NCAA's fault that J.J. Redick went 3-18 in a final-game upset loss at the hands of LSU, but you see him crying about it. Well, now, anyways.
Not that I need a reason to cheer against Duke, but their lacrosse team faces off with my dad's alma mater, Cornell, in tomorrow's National Semifinal. Go Big Red.

* Your weekly Die Hard 4 news. (And, yes, I know it's actually called Live Free or Die Hard, but Die Hard 2 was actually entitled Die Hard 2: Die Harder and Die Hard 3 was called Die Hard With a Vengeance, and when's the last time you heard anybody refer to those names, or Ren and Stimpy for that matter?)

* And, finally, a Happy Birthday to Bob Dylan, who turned 66 yesterday. While Paul McCartney has become a shell of his former self and the Rolling Stones have been putting out complete dreck since the early '80s, Bob is is the midst of a current three-album run that ranks with the Bringing It All Back Home/Highway 61 Revisited/Blonde on Blonde stretch he had in his heyday.

A. Rod Is Such a Woman

Tuesday Thoughts

* It can't be good for the NBA that everyone is more excited for tonight's Draft lottery than for any of the remaining playoff games. The NBA sort of reminds me of The Simpsons these days: Unwatchable and a glimmer of their former selves. (In two weeks, we might be adding Entourage to this list. I can't think of any TV show in recent memory that got so bad so quickly. It's like all the writers bolted to other shows and the producers were forced to hire the guys who were canned when Yes, Dear went off the air.)
And why does it seem like the Celtics are the only team that has ever had the lottery go against them? Why doesn't Minnesota complain about not getting Shaq in '92? Shouldn't Golden State have beef with the system because they were denied Yao in '02? And surely the Bulls are still steaming that the '01 lottery was won by Washington, allowing the Bullets to take future Hall of Famer Kwame Brown. But, nooo, all we hear about is the freakin' Celtics missing out on Tim Duncan. Shut up. I hope they get the fourth pick and end up taking Joakim Noah. Man, that'd be sweet.

* re: Clinton Portis' defense of Michael Vick: Why are these comments drawing harsher criticism than the acts themselves? The lack of uproar over Vick's dog-fighting ring has been baffling, considering his "star" status and the low-brow nature of his alleged crimes. This is a great story for the media, yet most major outlets (with ESPN leading the way) have largely swept it under the rug.
As for Portis; is anyone really surprised? The man has a stripper pole in his basement. Do we really expect, or need, him to have values that are in line with the common man?
Anyone who is "outraged" that somebody could be so callous about dog-fighting outrages me with their naivity. Look, dog fighting is disgusting and I hope whoever is guilty in the Vick affair gets a harsh sentense. But dog fighting clearly is a much bigger part of southern culture than anybody wants to admit, so much so that Clinton Portis claims he can get to one whenever he wants. Is that wrong? Of course. It's also illegal. But nobody expects Clinton Portis to be our moral authority. That's what we have Al Sharpton for.
Speaking of Sharpton, the slow-uproar over CP's comments are quite reminiscent of the Don Imus "controversy" as the media is trying to drum up outrage about something that nobody seems to care about too much. It's especially interesting that CP's words are getting so much play when, again, Vick has been skating on this issue for weeks. Plus, Portis made his idiotic comments on Saturday, yet they didn't get major media attention until Monday, despite the fact that many blogs were discussing the issue almost immediately. Why the delay?

* The funniest thing I've seen all week (uninentional edition):

* The funniest thing I've seen all week (intentional edition):

Resisting All Urges to Make Any of the Obvious Breaststroke Jokes

Seven-time Olympic swimming medalist Amanda Beard will pose nude in next month's Playboy, much to the chagrin of those who would be never asked to do so. Everyone out there screaming "objectification!" or "a great female athlete posing nude sets women's rights back to prehistoric times" is a throwack to prehistoric times themselves.
Dr. Mary Jo Kane is one of these women. She wrote in the New York Daily News:

The result of [athletes posing nude] is coverage that is very damaging - that trivializes and marginalizes women athletes because it does not give them the respect they deserve as competent athletes.

I'm not quite sure how Amanda Beard being both a world-class swimmer and totally hot trivializes her, in the same way that Maria Sharapova's beauty doesn't make her any less respected as a tennis player. When Serena Williams was in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue a few years back, she intended to show how an athletic body could also be sexy. She accomplished her goal. What's wrong with established female athletes showing off what they look like? This is a bad thing?
When Playboy publishes the Beard pictoral, full-mention will certainly be made of her swimming prowess, a fact which totally contradicts Kane's statement. Every news article about the pictures has included the phrases, "Olympic medalist" or "two-time gold medalist" when describing Beard. How is that trivializing her accomplishments?
Playboy didn't ask a random swimmer to pose for them, they asked one of the best breaststrokers of the last decade. Instead of being criticized, Beard should be applauded. Swimming is one of the most demanding sports there is. Women swimmers, in particular, have a very short shelf-life. But Beard medaled in three Olympics, set world records, won an NCAA Championship (that meet is often called the fastest in the world) all over a span of nine years. Now she's done swimming and looking to make some money by showing off her body in Playboy. Good for her. She deserves it. I'd say I can't wait for the pictoral, but I only read Playboy for the liquor ads.

Phil'd to Bursting

Back in 2005, my cousin scored some tickets to the final round of the U.S. Open for his brother and I. After Michael Campbell's victory, we went to a Pinehurst-area Outback (one of about three dining options available in the small North Carolina town) and sat with some sports radio veterans who regaled us with tales of coaches and athletes they had covered during their years in the business. When the talk turned to golf, there was one topic that dominated the conversation: How much of a prick Phil Mickelson was.
According to the guys at the table, Mickelson was a phony whose "aw shucks" routine was a facade for a generally unpleasant man who was despised by many of those within the game. Even though Mickelson had managed to fool some media members (mainly TV personalities), they argued, he was laregly seen a Jekyll & Hyde personality whose true colors came out when the cameras and tape recorders stopped.
According to a recent survey conducted by Sports Illustrated, PGA players seem to agree with this assessment. Among the anti-Phil sentiment revealed in the poll:
- Mickelson received the second most votes for the question "Who is your least favorite playing partner?" (Phil received 8% of the vote, tied for second behind runaway winner Rory Sabbatini, who earned the nod on 25% of ballots.)
- Forty-five players received votes in the "Who is your favorite playing partner?" category. (Compared to just 20 in the "least favorite".) Phil was not among them. The sort-of-surprise winner: Tiger Woods, with a scant 6% of votes.
- And perhaps most telling: SI asked PGA Tour players who the second-best golfer in the world was. Even though I'm not a fan of Phil, I'd say it's pretty clear that he should get the nod. Golfers don't agree, as Jim Furyk received 24% of the votes, followed by Vijay Singh (16%). Phil came in third, receiving only 6%.
These aren't earth shattering, nor highly scientific, findings. I just thought they were interesting. By the way, I'm watching Mickelson getting interviewed on PTI at the moment. As always, he seems very likable. Maybe he can give acting lessons to Nicolas Cage.

The Barry Bonds 756th Home Run Pool

The Wolfman made a good point the other day; it's about time he got married. No, wait... I made that point. His had something to do with how he's looking forward to the Barry Bonds home run chase. Kooky talk? Perhaps. But maybe the Cubs fan who hated Sammy Sosa because he was a cheater is onto something, besides utter and complete hypocrisy.
First, he thinks it would be great to be a college student during The Chase because once Bonds gets close, it's a great reason to drink every night while watching Giants' games. (A better reason to drink than because it's, say, a Tuesday.)
That seemed to be his only reason. Hmmm. As I said, the steroid stuff doesn't bother The Wolfman. It does bother me, but I think I'll still be turning on Giants games once Barry gets close because I'm not very good at sticking to my convictions. (I seem to remember swearing off baseball after the '94 strike. Granted, I was 13, but I'm pretty sure I made a compelling argument.)
Where was I going with this. Oh right, the gas. Anyway, during his pro-Bonds diatribe, The Wolfman mentioned that he was surprised to find no Barry Bonds #756 pool going on anywhere. I concurred. Thus, the impetus for the creation of the non-annual Chris's Sports Blog Barry Bonds 756th Home Run Pool was created.
Here's how it works: Make your pick in the comments section by including the date you think Barry Bonds will break Hank Aaron's career homer record. Also include the inning as a tiebreaker. Once all six of you reading this have gotten your picks in, I'll post all the predictions. The winner will receive the eternal glory of winning this hallowed pool. I'll also open up the blog to the winner for a day, where you can rant about why you hate Jeffri Chiadra (Falkow) or what the true Fight of the Year really is (Phil) to your heart's delight. For tax purposes, the approximate cash value of this prize is $745,000. Oh, and don't forget to include your name if you're posting under "anonymous".
By the way; Bonds is currently at 745 home runs, 11 short of breaking the record.
The Giants upcoming schedule appears below:

Wed, 5/16	at Astros
Thu, 5/17	at Astros
Fri, 5/18	at Athletics
Sat, 5/19	at Athletics
Sun, 5/20	at Athletics
Mon, 5/21	Astros
Tue, 5/22	Astros
Wed, 5/23	Astros
Fri, 5/25	Rockies
Sat, 5/26	Rockies
Sun, 5/27	Rockies
Tue, 5/29	at Mets
Wed, 5/30	at Mets
Thu, 5/31	at Mets
Fri, 6/1	at Phillies
Sat, 6/2	at Phillies
Sun, 6/3	at Phillies
Mon, 6/4	at Phillies
Tue, 6/5	at Diamondbacks
Wed, 6/6	at Diamondbacks
Thu, 6/7	at Diamondbacks
Fri, 6/8	Athletics
Sat, 6/9	Athletics
Sun, 6/10	Athletics
Mon, 6/11	Blue Jays
Tue, 6/12	Blue Jays
Wed, 6/13	Blue Jays
Fri, 6/15	at Red Sox
Sat, 6/16	at Red Sox
Sun, 6/17	at Red Sox
Mon, 6/18	at Brewers
Tue, 6/19	at Brewers
Wed, 6/20	at Brewers
Fri, 6/22	Yankees
Sat, 6/23	Yankees
Sun, 6/24	Yankees
Mon, 6/25	Padres
Tue, 6/26	Padres
Wed, 6/27	Padres
Fri, 6/29	Diamondbacks
Sat, 6/30	Diamondbacks
Sun, 7/1	Diamondbacks
Tue, 7/3	at Reds
Wed, 7/4	at Reds
Thu, 7/5	at Reds
Fri, 7/6	at Cardinals
Sat, 7/7	at Cardinals
Sun, 7/8	at Cardinals
Tue, 7/10
Fri, 7/13	Dodgers
Sat, 7/14	Dodgers
Sun, 7/15	Dodgers
Mon, 7/16	at Cubs
Tue, 7/17	at Cubs
Wed, 7/18	at Cubs
Thu, 7/19	at Cubs
Fri, 7/20	at Brewers
Sat, 7/21	at Brewers
Sun, 7/22	at Brewers
Mon, 7/23	Braves
Tue, 7/24	Braves
Wed, 7/25	Braves
Thu, 7/26	Braves
Fri, 7/27	Marlins
Sat, 7/28	Marlins
Sun, 7/29	Marlins
Tue, 7/31	at Dodgers
Wed, 8/1	at Dodgers
Thu, 8/2	at Dodgers
Fri, 8/3	at Padres
Sat, 8/4	at Padres
Sun, 8/5	at Padres
Mon, 8/6	Nationals
Tue, 8/7	Nationals
Wed, 8/8	Nationals
Thu, 8/9	Nationals
Fri, 8/10	Pirates
Sat, 8/11	Pirates
Sun, 8/12	Pirates
Mon, 8/13	at Pirates
Mon, 8/13	at Pirates
Tue, 8/14	at Braves
Wed, 8/15	at Braves
Thu, 8/16	at Braves
Fri, 8/17	at Marlins
Sat, 8/18	at Marlins
Sun, 8/19	at Marlins
Mon, 8/20	at Marlins
Tue, 8/21	Cubs
Wed, 8/22	Cubs
Thu, 8/23	Cubs
Fri, 8/24	Brewers
Sat, 8/25	Brewers
Sun, 8/26	Brewers
Mon, 8/27	Rockies
Tue, 8/28	Rockies
Wed, 8/29	Rockies

Donovan McNabb Makes Woody Allen Look Self-Assured

ESPN.com front page, today, 4:30 p.m.

After reading Donovan McNabb's bizarre criticism of the Eagles' selection of QB Kevin Kolb in last week's NFL Draft, I was waiting for someone in the MSM to point out that Donovan is delusional, ignorant and washed-up. Thanks, Sal Paolantonio.
Alright, Paolantonio didn't go that far, but his column suggested what everyone seems to know (but few are willing to say): Donovan McNabb is on the downside of his career and after Jeff Garcia (who might not even start in Tampa Bay this season) out-performed him in 2006, Donovan will have to fight to keep his job in 2008 and beyond.
The money excerpt:

While fans may be happy to hear McNabb has created his own timetable for a return, Reid may not be thrilled the quarterback usurped the head coach's power to make that decision for the team.
It's important to point out here the manner in which McNabb spoke out Tuesday. It was not done at the Eagles' NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia -- the site of every other McNabb press event since the venue opened five years ago. No, McNabb spoke at a skating rink in South Jersey. It was handled not by the Eagles public relations department but by a fired former member of that staff whom McNabb has hired to help with media relations for his foundation and charity work. The four local media outlets invited to the event did not include the Eagles' official TV station, the local ABC affiliate.
Indeed, it seems that by going public the way he did, McNabb was trying to exert a little bit more control over his destiny. And perhaps show a little defiance.

How could McNabb possibly say he was "shocked" at the QB pick when he breaks down like Barbaro every season? It used to be that you could set your watch for November when Virginia Tech football would lose a big game. But since the Hokies have been losing games in September and October of late, McNabb's annual injury is the most efficient way of telling that Thanksgiving is around the corner.

* Now the Red Sox definitely can't get rid of Julian Tavarez:

Red Sox Love
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Think of All The Money Jason Giambi Will Save on Syringes!

* Sunday had been a good day. I awoke for my 10:16 tee time feeling chipper, despite the previous evening's Cinco de Mayo/De La Hoya-Mayweather festivities. My front-nine saw all parts of my golf game awakening from the winter's slumber. The weather, which had been cold and windy for the first few holes, was perfect. I was with three good friends, had won our friendly two-on-two wager and was about to enjoy a free meal as a result. And then the news came in: Roger Clemens had signed with the Yankees. My joy turned to despair.
It's not often a stacked team can sign a Hall of Famer in early May. That said Hall of Famer is 44 years old is of no matter. You see, Roger Clemens is like a fine wine or Diane Lane: Improving with age. In his 22nd and 23rd seasons in the Majors, Clemens posted the lowest back-to-back ERAs of his career. (His runs allowed apparently work in inverse correlation to his head size.) Clearly, Clemens will be just as effective in his 24th season and lead the Yankees to that 27th World Series title that they richly deserve.
Anyone who thinks Clemens' production will see a drop-off this season is either insane or... No, just insane. Last year The Rocket was facing lineups filled with middle-of-the-order hitters like Chad Tracy, Rich Aurilia, Johnny Estrada, Jacque Jones and David Delucci. When you've seen that veritable Murderer's Row of stars, suddenly David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez don't look too imposing.
And now that he's in the American League, Clemens doesn't have to worry about facing pitchers in the batting order, something that clearly messed up his groove during his three seasons in Houston. All those quick three-pitch at-bats against his throwing counterparts wreaked mental havoc with the man who spent over 20 years in the A.L. Heck, The Rocket was so mentally-exhausted from having to face hurlers that he never even made it out of the 7th inning last season! Because he gets to face DHs while pitching with the Yankees, expect Clemens to be comfortable enough to make it into the 9th inning in every start. (Not that he has to worry if he should ever decide to leave a game early; the New York bullpen has been lights-out all season, led by Mariano (8.44 ERA) Rivera. All those blown saves Clemens was used to in Houston are over! And now that he's in NY, expect that Yanks bullpen to get a lot of rest every 5th day beacuse, as I just mentioned, Clemens will be working deep into games just like he hasn't in the past three seasons.)
Roger must be thrilled to be back home where his career began, in Yankee Stadium. He feels so comfortable there that he's never going to stick around when he's not pitching, opting instead to return to his family in Houston. Road trips that he's not pitching in... Roger won't even be there! Think of all the per diem money the Yankees will save! That makes up almost half of Clemens' $4.5 million per month salary right there!
That special arrangement might have caused friction in some places, but Clemens is lucky to be playing in New York, where the media surely won't make an issue of it at any point. Nor will they press the fact that Clemens' name is rarely mentioned in the same breath as Bonds, McGwire and Sosa despite numerous pieces of evidence that suggests it should.
Nope, nothing can go wrong with this. They might as well start engraving the Yankees name on the World Series trophy today.

* Alex Rodriguez's first 19 games:
.395 avg
14 HR
7 2B
34 RBI
.453 OBP
1.506 OPS

Alex Rodriguez's last 12 games:
.267 avg
0 HR
2 2B
3 RBI
.313 OBP
.679 OPS

The only constant through both "streaks" are the purpleness of A. Rod's lips.

* According to those who know what they're talking about (David Dupree, David Aldridge and Michael Wilbon), the NBA Playoffs are as good as done. With the ouster of Dallas, the paths are apparently clear for San Antonio and Detroit to meet in the NBA Finals. Keep in mind, the Finals begin in exactly one month. Yet, three of the most knowledgable NBA guys there are say that the next 30 days of basketball is essentially meaningless. And this is just another reason why every time I watch an NBA game, I have the same thought running through my head: This bores me.

* Finally, if you agree with me that Roger Clemens will single-handedly save the Yankees season, here's some more analysis on the topic:

Report: 70 Percent Of All Praise Sarcastic

Hopefully, the WNBA Will Soon Follow Suit

Good news, courtesy of EngadgetHD:

CBS will reportedly be offering up "five or six games per week this season in high-definition, up from three a year ago." Additionally, the NFL has also declared that "all games must be shown in HD starting in 2008," which means that you can finally stop biting your nails about whether your team's matchup will be shot in HD.

It seems that the league and its broadcast partners have realized that once people began watching games in high definition, it was almost impossible to watch a game shot in analog. The high costs of buying, and transporting, a full compliment of HD cameras (and a truck) have kept the networks from expanding their HD outfits too rapidly. I'm guessing that CBS execs saw that games not shot in HD weren't performing as well as those that were, so they decided to double their coverage. (After the Super Bowl, the network announced they would be showing one additional HD game per week next season.)

Warriors? More Like BORE-iors!

So I just turned on the Dallas/Golden State game to see if all this fuss that has been made about the Warriors' fans has been justified.
In case you've missed it, every NBA analyst has been ranting and raving about how unbelievable the fans in Oakland have been during this series against the Mavericks. Leading the charge has been Bill Simmons, who has been writing practically-X-rated material this week about the passion, knowledge and volume of the Golden State fans. Apparently the Warrior fans, along with Knicks fans, are the best in the game and know so much about basketball that they can will their team to victory.
From what I've seen so far, I have to agree. Golden State fans seem pretty awesome. But here's the thing: In the NBA, these types of fans might be a rarity. In college, however, they'd be the norm. It's great that NBA fans can get all jacked up about a possibly-monumental Game 6, but I'd like to see them trudge to the arena in the middle of February for a regular season game and maintain their level of boisterousness like so many ACC and Big East fans do. To wit; in 2004-2005, Golden State fans filled 85.6% of the seats to watch a 34-48 team play ball. In 2006-2007, Syracuse fans set a Carrier Dome attendance record whilst watching a soon-to-be NIT team play ball.
The gist of the sitution: Regular NBA fans are so lame that they make decent fans seem awesome. And this is yet another reason why college basketball will always be more entertaining than the NBA.

At Least Orenthal O'Neal Got Picked

Wake Forest had two players selected in the NFL Draft, neither of whom was named Jon Abbate. Abbate, you probably don't remember, was the de facto leader of last year's ACC Champs who decided to forego his senior season in order to, theoretically, capitalize on all the hype he received last season. Oops.
The knock on Abbate was that he was small (5'10), slow (husky, white) and small (again, 5'10). Abbate, undoubtedly, made a mistake in declaring for the Draft. This was obvious even before he went undrafted. (Abbate did eventually sign with the Texans.) But, Abbate led the Deacs in tackles for three years, didn't look to slow when he was chasing down guys on Florida State, Georgia Tech and Maryland and has a motor that doesn't stop. For him to go undrafted is a testament to the eternal stupidity of the NFL Combines.
When Abbate declared, Mel Kiper Jr. had him listed as the 8th best inside-linebacker and penciled him in as a late-first day, early-second day pick. Since then, Abbate hasn't stepped on a football field during a game-situation. All he did was run a 40 yard dash in mesh shorts and perform the broad jump in front of a lot of guys with clipboards. Evidently, his poor showing on those fundamental football tests was enough for scouts to lower their opinion of Abbate so much that 16 inside linebackers went before him in the Draft, including two ACC guys who were behind him on the All-ACC squads.
I'm not saying Abbate should have been a first round pick or that he's going to be an All-Pro in three years. But he could certainly have a long career in the NFL, particularly on special teams, where his tenacity and nose for the ball could help any unit.
That an accomplished, if dimunitive, college football player like Jon Abbate got passed over 255 times for players that have proven much less on the field is, well, typical. After all, in 1996 a more accomplished short, slow and white linebacker fell way too far in the NFL Draft before the Miami Dolphins decided to gamble a 5th round pick on him. When he retires, Zach Thomas will merit serious consideration for the Hall of Fame.

* Here come the Yankees...

* Finally, hope u restin' 'n krazy peace, H-Dog

The Safety Dance

Once when I was in college, I had four papers due on the same day; a five-page one on the British Prime Minister's office, a six-pager on labor movements in the early 1900s and two seven-to-ten pagers on the Middle East to 1500. They were all due at various times on a Monday; I began them at halftime of the Sunday night football game (Indy vs. Oakland, if I remember correctly) and earned A's or A-'s on three and a B+ on the other, which was ridiculously entitled, "Muhammad: The Man".
When you consider my Jesse Owens-like run through various topics of history in a 13-hour span, my banging-out of a 25-page research paper yesterday in an eight-hour stretch from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 pales in comparison. But, hey, I'm not 20 anymore; I've got some mileage on me.
By the way, I just looked up what Sunday night game it was and, apparently, that Monday was October 15, 2001 and, in the Sunday night game the prior evening, Oakland defeated Indianapolis 23-14. If only I could turn my knack for remembering meaningless events into an anti-procrastination tool, I'd be all set for the rest of grad school. But I digress.
I wasn't able to watch much of the NFL Draft this weekend because I was attending the wedding of an old friend of mine. I managed to postpone leaving for the ceremony until the Redskins picked, so I was able to revel in the historic moment of drafting a safety in the top-six of the Draft. That's only happened twice since 1991 and the Redskins are the ones who have done it those two times... BOTH IN THE PAST FOUR YEARS. I managed to curb my dis-thusiasm about the pick until midway through the reception when I started talking about it with a fellow 'Skins fan and ended up going on an uninterrupted four-minute rant about drafting a safety that managed to include insults of Vinny Cerrato, cell phone commercials, people who order half-caff drinks at Starbucks and Pope Leo XIII, to name a few.
It's important to restate that stat from above. In the past 16 Drafts, safeties have been picked #1 through #6 only twice; both times by the Redskins in 2004 and 2007, when they took Sean Taylor and LaRon Landry, respectively. There's a phrase for that in French. My spelling might be a bit off, but I believe it's written "freakin' preposterous". (Also "freakin' preposterous"; Randy Moss going to the Pats for a 4th round pick and this news somehow getting overshadowed by the second day of the Draft. I'll never understand the Draft and Its power over people. The second-most explosive receiver in the NFL goes to the league's best team for a pittance, and Troy Smith is on the front page of ESPN.com? I'd like to say that such an editorial decision is indicative of how far ESPN.com has fallen, but all the other major sites led with other news for most of the day too.)
Look, I have nothing against Landry, mainly because I don't know anything about him. He might be a great player, and I hope he is. What I'm upset at is the pick itself, since safety was one of the Redskins least-pressing needs. They need help in so many other areas. Using the #6 pick on a safety is like... OK, I can't think of a good analogy, but it's like something.
Even if Landry is great and manages to make Sean Taylor into a great player (beause SeanTay isn't at this point; he's literally hit or miss and does both with gusto), it might not matter. You could have Ronnie Lott and his non-Union Mexican equivalent, Senor Lottbergo roaming the secondary and it wouldn't matter if the front seven is unable to generate any pass-rush. But the Redskins don't have that problem... They had 19 sacks in all of 2006! What could they possibly need a pass rusher for??
The whole thing would be ridiculous if this front office hadn't already set the ridiculousness bar so high. As it is, picking a safety was just business as usual at Redskins Park.
Because I was working on that paper yesterday and didn't think I'd have the energy, or desire, to write anything today, I asked some of my peoples for their thoughts on the Draft. They appear below.

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Let's play Theme Time Blog Post. What is the theme of this list of Redskins?

Ladell Betts
Chris Cooley
Phillip Daniels
Cornelius Griffin
Jon Jansen
Rocky McIntosh
Clinton Portis
Casey Rabach
Joe Salave'a
Fred Smoot
Randy Thomas
Marcus Washington

If you said, "They're all starters or frequently used back-ups," you'd be right. You'd also be right if you called them some of the most popular players on the team. They are gritty, they fight through injuries, and they adjust their contracts so the team can improve.

But the real theme is: Not one of them is like any other Redskin chosen this year. Why's that? Each was drafted in Rounds 2-4.
- Jaf

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I thought for sure the Redskins were going to trade out of the 6th spot and somehow end up with Lance Briggs. The other thinking was that somehow they were going to trade up and select Calvin Johnson in a trade with GM of the year Matt Millen. The last thing I expected was the Burgundy and Gold to actually make a pick at 6, BUT if they did I expected Okoye, the 19yr old DT from Louisville. None of that happened. I like Laron Landry, he is someone that can come in and play right away in the secondary with Sean Taylor. I don't think we will have to wait til week 10 to see him. The team had him as the top defensive player in the draft. The thing that really amazes me is that they didn't select a defensive lineman with any of their 5 selections. Either way, mini camp is this weekend and the season is officially underway.
- The Gov

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You know what, this morning I wasn’t feeling that bad about the ‘Skins’ first-round pick: if Landry contributes to a performing secondary which gives the D-line two more seconds than it did last season to make a push, fine. But then I hear Mel Kiper, Jr. rate our draft in the bottom three of the league, primarily because we only had one Saturday pick. Then I realized Mel Kiper, Jr. is a miserable d*ck. Then I realized I hope to God that I have a full head of hair like Mel Kiper, Jr. when I’m his age.
- Klinny

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I thought the Bears had a fine draft. I just hope Olson doesn’t act like Shockey. If he does, then it will be hard to root for him, but otherwise I liked the pick. Otherwise, it is a bunch of guys I’ve never heard of at positions they needed, so they did a good job from that standpoint. I liked Garrett Wolfe in the 3rd round too, I’m excited to have a fun 3rd down back to watch Also, they traded 2nd rounders with the Chargers and got a 3rd and 5th this year and a 3rd next year, which was pretty good.
Announcing wise, I’ve just noticed a trend in the last month or so in ESPN dropping ‘the’ when talking about a team and using city and nickname. They used to say, ‘The Cleveland Browns needed…’ Now they say, ‘Cleveland Browns needed…’
- The Wolfman

("I can't believe I gave you an open forum on the Draft and you didn't mention Brady Quinn once. Looks like marriage has slowed you down, Wolfman." -- Chaz)

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All I figured out in the draft was that if I am ever accused of a crime, I am getting Michael Vick to testify on my behalf
- Falkow