Must See MJ

Nod to Dime.

Chuck: Where Amazing Happens

Big props to Lang Whitaker from SLAM for once again finding new and improved ways to keep the NBA fun (be sure to read the full post to get the back story on this clip).

Bigger props to everyone at Inside the NBA for being the only reason to sit through a Magic/Pistons game. This video slayed me. Enjoy.

The Facilitator: 5/1/08

The NBA has been moving and shaking in the last few days. The Mavs and Spurs are redundant, the Celtics and Pistons resilient, and the Hornets for real.

But I’m not here to talk about that. Too many people already touch on the wins and losses. Same same. Instead, here are the highlights from my day off catch-up of my RSS Feeds:

• “God could care less whether I can shoot a jump shot.”  –Ray Allen

  One of the many gems from Jackie MacMullan’s article on Ray Allen’s borderline OCD (nod to Bill Simmons’ latest batch of The Links for this one).

  Just as interesting is the window into the rituals of many other NBA players that the article touches on. Apparently Ray Allen got a good chunk of the young Sonics to follow his routine, including Luke Ridnour. I think Ridnour needs a refresher.

• Josh Howard’s comments on pot smoking may or may not have effected the Mavericks outcome in the playoffs (I personally think Chris Paul made the Mary Jane uproar a moot point because he would have torched the Mavs either way, and I’m sure most of the players went home feeling like they needed a puff after the series anyway).

  But, it turns out that the Howard drama didn’t stop there. According to Jeff Caplan of Star-Telegram.com, Howard threw a 28th birthday party for himself after their Game 4 loss, specifically after former coach Avery Johnson had asked the team to refrain from extracurricular activities. The article is worth reading (full article found here), especially in light of the Avery Johnson axing (nod to Dime for this beat).

  Also, does anyone else smell another Dirk Nowitzki retreat coming on? I think we should start a poll to choose his vacation spot this summer. He did the Outback last year, maybe some spiritual rekindling in the Himalayas this summer? Or, perhaps, a combination of the weight room and man camp?

• Tough Juice has Gilbert’s back. I’m talking about the game-winner he hit last night, yes, but moreso, the trash he talked to LeBron in addition to it:

  “Let’s make the series interesting,” he said, as LeBron laughed. “Let’s take it back to D.C.”

  And, of course, LeBron missed (and not, LeBron, it was not a foul).

  Mike Wise’s article also delves into how beloved Butler is by his teammates and the origins of the “Tough Juice” moniker if you don’t already know how it came to be (another nod to Dime–they’re making a bobblehead out of me today).

• Finally, J.E. Skeets, on the blog Ball Don’t Lie (full post here), quotes Craig Ehlo (yes, this Craig Ehlo) as saying that he thinks Mark Cuban will offer the Mavs coaching job to Bobby Knight. Bobby Knight?!?!?!? No chance in hell, I say.

  More importantly, though, is the fact that Craig Ehlo is now giving NBA insight. Or, at least insight into matters other than being the other guy in all those Jordan highlights. Maybe someone should ask him about the relief he felt from those Gatorade commercials where they CGI’d the endings of all those famous sports plays and MJ missed the jumper.

Josh Howard, You Can’t Be Serious

This is a quote from a conversation that Josh Howard willingly had with Michael Irvin and Kevin Kiley today on the Michael Irvin Show on 103.3 FM ESPN Radio in Dallas (click here to listen to full broadcast of the show):

Kiley: When the season’s over, this is kind of a personal question but I think it needs to be asked, when the season’s over, do you look forward to your first joint?

The Facilitator: 4/24/08

I read so many sports blogs and surf through enough other random sites that I have decided it is finally time for me to start my own version of “links.” Seemingly every blogger has their own take on this, with their own witty name to boot, so who am I to break tradition?

So, ladies and gentlemen, the Facilitator’s inaugural post (note: I am picturing myself as Chris Paul while writing this).

More Interesting Than the Actual Series

The Atlanta Hawks ended a playoff drought dating back to 1999 last week, earning them the right to be crushed by Boston Celtics in the first round.

Everywhere, Boston fans rejoiced. They then took a nap.

Game 1 provided little drama as the C’s easily took care of business against the “Oh, I forgot we actually have to play the games now” Hawks.

So, in light of little to post about the actual game, here is video of a much more interesting Celtics event. If you missed it, this is the ESPN SportsCenter Sunday Conversation with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and KG. And the second is Kevin Garnett’s post-game press conference after the Game 1 victory last night. The thing to keep in mind during both of these that Kevin Garnett is insane, and I love him for it.

Bonus points for anyone who finds me that picture of KG in his undersized jean jacket.

I Gulp My Haterade, Care to Join?

This dunk looks great in pictures. Then again, MySpace taught us to know better. (picture from NBA.com)

Cute is for elementary school crushes, puppy dogs on cards, and babies making funny faces at you in grocery store check-out lines.

Cute is not for dunk-contests. At least not NBA ones.

Perhaps I should have seen this coming. With the ever-diminishing age of the players in the league, and with the “rule” of only allowing players in their first three years in the league to participate, it should have been obvious that there would be a fair share of corniness.

But I never expected everyone to buy into it.

NBA All-Star Weekend: Where Record Breaking Boobies Happen

Boobie for three!

I was all set to post this right after the Rookie/Sophomore Game finished, but when I got to the WordPress login page there was a headline that caught my eye on the “Dashboard.” “Wolverine Movie Cometh” it read. Being a movie freak, and enjoying X-Men as much as the next young adult who grew up watching the cartoon/reading the comic, I followed the link to the article at a blog entitled Illseed. The post was brief, and it basically just chronicled the next installment of the X-Men series.

I decided to poke around the site a little, and I ended up finding something much more intriguing. The author had posted a riddle invented by Einstein. In the set-up, the author claims that the riddle is simple and straightforward but that Einstein stated 98% of people in the world wouldn’t be able to solve it. That hooked me right there, and I spent the next twenty minutes figuring it out. Click the link above to find the riddle, just be sure not to scroll down the page too far because the solution is in the comments.

Anyway, back to my original purpose of re-capping the Rookie/Sophomore Game. Below are my thoughts and observations, bulleted like they’re from Washington pre ‘97.

A Heads Up

Unfortunately, Bird Man will not be in attendance at this year’s game—he could not find a shirt.

With only a few hours remaining before the start of the 2007-08 NBA All-Star Weekend Festivities, I wanted to give you a heads up of what to expect from me these next three nights.

Basically, I will be posting and updating the site after nearly every event (except for the fake ones, like tonight’s Celeb All-Star game for example). I would live-blog, but I don’t have wireless in my house and refuse to buy a 100 foot ethernet cable that would run all the way to my couch. Instead, I’ll just keep a notebook journal and update that.

I look forward to reporting on the usual All-Star weekend shenanigans, so be sure to check back frequently throughout the weekend for my unfiltered opinions and rants.

P.S. Happy Belated Valentine’s Day to everyone. Especially you, Roger Clemens. I wonder if you wore your special red V-Day Panties yesterday or if your panties just turn that color every day from the bleeding mass on your bottom. Either way, I applaud your year-round Valentine’s Day spirit.

Little To Say About Everything

Forgive my lack of posting for the last couple of days, I seem to have come down with some sort of “your stomach hates food” bug. Enjoyable.

A lot happened in sports last night, but I can’t bring myself to write about any of it. With the entire world seemingly plugged into sports news updates 24/7 I try my best to refrain from any recaps—surely I am bringing little new information to the subject by the time you are reading my post. So let those paid to talk loudly about sports argue the blown calls at the end of the Tennessee/Rutgers and Villanova/Georgetown game, or worry over Stan Van Gundy calling out Dwight Howard after their loss to the Cavs. I am above it.

Instead, I found two infinitely more interesting YouTube clips to share. The first is something I immediately searched for after seeing today’s SportsCenter Top 10 Highlights. The highlight was a recap of Nimitz High’s Brittney Griner dominating some local competition in her game. If I remember correctly, she was an assist away from a quadruple-double. As impressive as that is, what is even more impressive is the moment in the highlight when she got the ball in the post, spun middle, and dunked with ease. Granted, she’s 6′8″, but a high school girl! With ease! So I investigated a little. Here’s what I found.

The second clip comes to commaPause via Bill Simmons’ latest edition of “The Links.” There, one of Bill’s readers e-mails the Sports Guy with a link to this highlight of Shaquille O’Neal’s (LA Lakers edition) version of the “Cheers” theme song, just another reason why I wish I could be the last guy on the bench for an NBA team.