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Too many potential jokes: Former NBA All-star, and alcohol abuser Vin Baker looks to resurrect his career with the Los Angeles Clippers. With backup big man Chris Wilcox being shipped to the Seattle SuperSonics, Baker is being reunited with former coach Mike Dunleavy. Baker and Dunleavy were together during their stint with the Milwaukee Bucks. Good luck Vin, don’t fall off the wagon!
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Georgetown Hoyas Centers Big Man Legacy
Posted by Jeff Chan Categories: NCAA, College Basketball,
Georgetown is back as a Big East force this season, currently ranked 17th in the nation. Guess what, one of their better players is a center, in 7’2” Roy Hibbert. Hibbert had an impressive 20 point 12 rebound game in Georgetown’s loss to Villanova yesterday.
Since the Patrick Ewing left the Hoyas, there was the Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning era of big men. Since then, there have been big guys in the paint, who have made it to the pros, but haven’t made the same impact at Georgetown or in the NBA. After Mourning, there was eras of Othella Harrington, Jahidi White, Mike Sweetney, and who can forget Ruben Boumtje Boumtje? Hopefully Hibert will continue to improve on his game, and bring Georgetown back to it’s glory days.
Five White Guys Save College Basketball
Posted by Jeff Chan Categories: Editorial, NCAA, College Basketball,
The Sports Guy Bill Simmons gave me an idea after reading his mailbag. One fan asked why America hates J.J. Redick. Simmon’s funny response reminded how a number of the standout players in college basketball are white players. So here are a few observations.
All the good white players are also on ranked teams that get a lot of television time:
#2 Duke with J.J. Redick, Simmons says J.J. is hated because he has a silly first name that people make fun of, such as B.J., Chipper, and Christain. It’s not entirely his fault, as a lot of fans just hate Duke. Coach K recruits a lot of players that have a clean cut image and have some resemblance to bad guy Johnny from Karate Kid. Redick just broke the all-time Duke scoring record, so congratulations on two records in one week.
#4 Villanova with point guard Mike Nardi. Villanova is known for their 4-guard attack, and a guy with a backwards name in Allan Ray. People will continue to ask if he will end up as good as Ray Allen? Nardi reminds me a little bit of Jason Williams, the other thugged-out looking white point guard with the horrible nickname of “White Chocolate”.
#5 Gonzaga with Adam Morrison, aka Larry Bird Jr. plus mustache. All fans like watching the score tracker and seeing how many points Morrison just dropped. His latest performance was 44 points, 37 in the second half. The regular season has a nice scoring champ race between Morrison and Redick.
#11 West Virginia with Kevin Pittsnogle and Mike Gansey. Everyone likes watching the oddity of a big man shooting three pointers ala Bill Laimbeer.
#23 North Carolina with possible freshman of the year Tyler Hansbrough, who also dropped a 40 point game is looking like a tough big man in the post. When North Carolina won the NCAA tournament last year, analysts kept mentioning they will reload with a strong freshman class. At first I was shocked to see Hansbrough, a rugged, strong, white post player. I was expecting a Vince Carter high-flying athletic type, or a Marvin Williams everyone raves about him but he doesn’t really do much type, both whom didn’t show as much (in North Carolina) as the hype suggested. I’m just waiting for the Hansbrough/Raef Lafrentz comparisons and jokes to appear.
Read More 
| Bill Simmons
Will he or won’t he? A day after interviewing with USA Today, now Bonds claims that his interview was supposed to be just a personal conversation, and not hard fact. To paraphrase, Bonds claims the game is no longer fun for him, he is been taking pain killers for various ailments, is tired of all the steroid accusations and the home run record watch. Bonds also mentions he doesn’t care if he breaks Aaron’s home run record, he would be satisfied to pass Babe Ruth as #2 on the career home run list. The egotistical remark of the week was that breaking the home run record “means more to baseball than it does to me.” One thing is for sure, the newly proposed Barry Bonds reality show mentioned earlier should consider calling it: Everybody Hates Barry.
No, Gilbert Arenas isn’t mad at anyone, he just doesn’t know how to let go of a grudge. This news from the Arizona Republic states that Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas, is still furious about slipping to the 2001 NBA draft’s second round. He now has extra motivation to fuel him at the All-Star Game and the rest of the season. The fourth-leading scorer in the NBA, Arenas was added to the Eastern roster by Commissioner David Stern because Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O’Neal is injured and can’t play. “I’m on a mission,” says Arenas, who aims to show that coaches should have voted him on as a reserve. “Somebody has to pay. Somebody is going to pay until I end my career.”
I’m surprised this hasn’t been talked about more during All-Star weekend. During the Slam-Dunk Contest, Damon Jones was seated next to Shaquille O’Neal with an outfit that made him look like he manages “working girls” for a living. Jones is well-known for his off-beat character. He has had a few wacky appearances with the media in the last few years, once wearing a “Trust Me, I’m a Virgin” t-shirt, while playing on Miami last year. Also last year in the first round of the Playoffs, Jones was asked by the NBA to remove his sunglasses for post-game interviews. In even more brash news, Jones became the first current American player of the NBA to sign with a Chinese sportswear company. Yes, Damon Jones has a basketball shoe contract with a Chinese company named Li-Ning, which was founded after a former gymnast. Jones will rock the Li-Ning, “Feijia” shoe, which translated means “Fly home”. I’m guessing the translation of zany, black dude that shoots three-pointers would be too long of a name of a shoe.
Read More | China Daily
Chad Hedrick has been extremely critical of Shanni Davis for not participating in the team pursuit event, an event where the US did not medal. Hedrick who won the gold in the 5,000 meter has been consistently been asked about his views on Davis’ no show rather than his own gold medal, and has grown tired of the controversy. Davis who won the 1,000 meter event did not want to join due to the lack of time to prepare for multiple events on consecutive days. Davis is also the first African-American to win an Olympic gold, has been coming off like the villain, but some of the criticism has been unfairly warranted.
Read More | ESPN
Andre Iguodala and Nate Robinson gave the Houston crowd something to cheer about yesterday. Nate Robinson’s slam, with the help of 1986 slam dunk champ Spud Webb, got the biggest cheer and a perfect score of 50. The other perfect score slam which was very creative was Iguodala’s slam off the back side of the backboard coming from out of bounds. The win was somewhat tainted, because Robinson needed a number of attempts for one of his dunks which scored a 47 out of 50.
Today’s event, the Daytona 500, is the first point earning event for the Nascar Nextel Cup of the 2006 season. Jimmie Johnson, who has been predicted by the Sporting News to finish sixth for the 2006 season, took home his first Daytona 500 victory. Johnson has been consistently finishing in the top five throughout his career, only needs a few improvements to finish as the 2006 champ. Johnson already made news earlier this week when his crew chief was sent home for making illegal modifications to his car.
Read More | USA TODAY
In todays society of non-stop cell phone use, chatting online hours at a time, and computer games, over-obese children have become a national epidemic. To make matters worse, a school teacher has been accused of letting his students skip out of gym class for $1 a day. Terence Braxton taught sixth-eighth grade physical education has been put on administrative leave. He is accused of receiving at least $230 from six students as bribes. For someone to stoop this low for just a couple extra bucks seems mind-boggling. Parents should not only take more of an initiative to make sure their kids are getting exercise through sports, but to be sure to meet their children’s gym teacher during parent/teacher meetings.
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