Linkage...

Well.... It's been nearly a month since we posted anything new on this blog, and I can't really think of a good excuse for it outside of just being lazy. But this morning the immortal words of Morgan Freeman entered my head and told me "to get busy bloggin', or get busy dyin'", and with the sultry baritone of MF ringing in my ears I realized what I had to do..... A link dump. Sure it's a cop out, but it will have to do for now... along with a promise of much more content from now on. - If you haven't already checked it out, it looks like outstanding blog www.firegeorgekarl.com isn't only picking up steam, it may actually succeed thanks to Karl's idiot lawyer. - With the Rockies defying my predictions and actually signing most of the guys from last year's team, I may have to start caring about baseball again. - Javon Walker is now a Raider. Nice move Javon, just ask Randy Moss, Jerry Porter, and every single other Oakland WR of the past 5 years how much fun that is. It's probably a lot better than playing next to Brandon Marshall though. Although, I guess if he found someone dumb enough to pay him $55 million over 6 years, it doesn't really matter what team he's playing for. Way to go Al Davis!! - Looks like the Birdman is ready to fly again. And this time it won't be in the Highlands Ranch Rec League. - Champ's little bro a Bronco? I'm all for it. In fact, I'd like to populate the entire defense with members of Bailey's family. - Finally, Forty Duece sent me this earlier today. A bizarre and hilarious short movie made by E's hot girlfriend in Entourage.... which is just 3 minutes of Baron Davis roller-skating to New Edition in short shorts and a tank top. Update - The "making of" the Baron Davis video can be seen here... (Thanks JP)

Greatest SportsCenter Commercials

ESPN.com is currently running a poll for the greatest SportCenter commercial of all-time. There are definitely some funny ones on there, and it is worth a browse. However, in my opinion, they left off the two greatest SportsCenter commercials ever created. And thanks to the magic of the Youtubes.... I have found them. #2:   The Big Buddy Commercial: What I love about this clip..... - The NBA ballers playing with them, Sam Cassell (alien invading our planet), and big Jason Williams (shot his limo driver in the chest with a shotgun)... exactly the "heroes" whom every kid dreams of playing some hoops with. - That kid taking it soft to the hole against Stu Scott. Bring it hard or don't bring it at all junior! The paint ain't for pussies! - The sheer shooter's mentality shown by Mayne and Scott, they always want the shot. - Kenny Mayne's unparalleled lockdown D. Word is that Bruce Bowen saw this commercial and it completely changed his life, as he would later model his entire defensive philosophy after Mayne's performance. #1:   The Gheorghe Muresan Dance Commercial: What I love about this..... - The tape cassette beatbox playing the theme music. I think I had that same one back in HS. - It is easily the greatest thing ESPN has ever contributed to Americana. - How Ravich, Mayne and Muresan made white people across the world feel better about their own ability to dance after watching this. - How this proves that a giant man and a tiny man, dancing side by side, will always be funny. - How Kenny Mayne (like myself) is not a man who is able to turn down an opportunity to get busy to a funky beat.

Links....

Some links for you to enjoy over the weekend, or to just help you waste time at work today..... Phil Jackson's "apology" for his brokeback mountain comment. The sheer smart-assity during this gives me even more respect for the man. This video was brought to my attention a couple of days ago. I have watched it at least 5 times per day since. Very possibly in the top 5 funniest things in the history of the world. Nebraska's self proclaimed "classiest fans in the nation" show their true colors again. Not only have they now been reported as heckling players, heckling coaches young kids at youth league football games, and demanded the coaching staff be fired just weeks after giving them a five year extension....but now the coaches are getting death threats To start getting you all fired up for the CU vs. Nebraska game next week. Here is one of the greatest moments in the history of this rivalry. Barry Bonds has been indicted for perjury. Here's an interesting video I found of him on youtube at Vince Coleman's wedding. It's long, but strangely compelling. Some other wedding guests of Coleman's are Charles Barkley, Marcus Allen, Ozzie Smith, and Michael Jordan. Sadly, no Willie McGee or Joaquin Andujar.... don't forget your friends Vince! The most mysterious player on the CU Hoop Squad.... standing at 0'0".... weight 0 lbs.... position "position unknown"....Dwight II! My other site, Deadly Hippos, is up and running again with new updates. If you enjoy biting social commentary, and cutting edge hippopotamus research.....this is the place for you.

How to fix the Finals

I never thought I'd say this in my life as an NBA fan.... but I just wish the season would end. I don't care who wins anymore, I hate both teams equally, I just want this awful display of basketball to be over. The playoff system is flawed. Granted, we've never been in a situation in my lifetime where the talent level was so drastically different between Conferences, but it has become ridiculously one-sided. Think of it this way, if the Cavs were in the Western Conference, playing against a Western Conference schedule for an entire season, would they even make the playoffs? Probably they would. But in the West it's doubtful that they are mcuh better than a team like the Lakers. I could see them ending up with a 6-8 seed and losing handily in the first round to the Suns, Spurs, or Mavericks. In fact, if you go back to the end of the regular season, where do you think the Cavs ranked in the top teams in the NBA? ESPN had them at no. 12 , NBA.com had them at no. 7, and John Hollinger had them at no. 8. I would argue with the last two rankings that both the Jazz and Nuggets are better teams than the Cavs. An arugment could be made for the Warriors also. And now with Oden and Durant most likely headed to the Western Conference as well, it's not too far-fetched to believe that in a few years the best 10 teams in the NBA could all be in the Western Conference. So that would mean that two of the best 10 teams wouldn't make the playoff field of 16, theoretically. So how do we fix it. There are a couple of ways that I think will work. 1. Seeding all the playoff teams 1-16 by regular season record, disregarding Conference. This would mean that Division and Conference championships would only be for a banner to hang from the rafters and mean little else. But it is probably the most fair way of determining seedings. Using this format, here's how the first round of the playoffs would have looked: 1. Dallas vs. 16. Orlando 2. Phoenix vs. 15. Washington 3. S.A. vs. 14. New Jersey 4. Detroit vs. 13. Golden State 5. Houston vs. 12. LA Lakers 6. Utah vs. 11. Miami 7. Cleveland vs. 10. Denver 8. Chicago vs. 9. Toronto With this format the 7-10 seed games would be pretty exciting. Denver vs. Cleveland in the first round? Lebron vs. Carmelo? Tell me the NBA wouldn't love that. Potential second round matchups would be Dallas vs. Chicago, Phoenix vs. Denver/Cleveland, S.A. vs. Utah, and Detroit vs. Houston. This could lead up to a Final Four with all Western Conference teams, but so what? The West is obviously the stronger Conference and wouldn't you want the best teams in the league playing each other at the end of the season? I really like this idea. 2. John Hollinger suggested having inter-conference games in the first round. He recommends leaving the seedings the same, but to have the 1 seed from the West play the 8 seed from the East, and vice versa. This way, the regular season and Division / Conference titles still mean something, but you could potentially eliminate some of the weaker Eastern Conference teams earlier. "East" Half (1E) Detroit vs. (8W) Golden State (4W) Utah vs. (5E) Chicago (2W) Phoenix vs. (7E) Washington (3E) Toronto vs. (6W) Denver "West" Half (1W) Dallas vs. (8E) Orlando (4E) Miami vs. (5W) Houston (2E) Cleveland vs. (7W) L.A. Lakers (3W) San Antonio vs. (6E) New Jersey In this format you would have this years NBA Finals teams (SA and the Cavs) playing in the 2nd round. You'd also have an exciting Suns vs. Nuggets 2nd round matchup, a Texas showdown between Dallas and Houston, and most likely a Detroit vs. Chicago 2nd round series. Although that Jazz vs. Chicago first round series would be pretty even. This is probably the better of the two ideas, since it leaves some meaning in the Conference and Division titles. The bottom line is that something needs to be done. When the series that everyone considers the "real championship" happens in the second round, then things aren't working the way they are supposed to. I love NBA basketball, and I have hated the last two rounds. And this is when it's supposed to get good! To let you know how bad last night's game was, I switched the channel to watch the US soccer team play El Salvador. And you know what? It was more fun to watch than the Spurs / Cavs game. I think that they actually scored more in the soccer game while I was watching (a 4-0 hammering by the US). That got me thinking. What are some more things that I would have rather watched than last nights basketball game? - A baseball game. - The movie Gigli. - A hot dog eating contest. - The Gary Coleman CashCall commercial. All of them over and over. - The Gilmore Girls DVD. - Flavor of Love Charm School. - Road House for the 754th time. You get the picture.

Quick Hits

Good afternoon! Just wanted to throw some links at you after a busy fun filled sports weekend. Check 'em out if you already haven't. Anybody go to the CSU spring game? Didn't look like much of a crowd from this video. Checkout this poor 4 year old boy who thought after seeing CSU last season that the safest place at a game would be behind the endzone. Only he and his Pops under-estimated the sievelike Ram defense. He has stitches but he can take a hit. Colorado Homer JT looked to be right on w/ his preview of the Denver vs. San Antonio series. Bruce Bowen, couldn't hold Melo or A.I. And it sounds like Nene had a stellar game that may have left the Spurs looking for answers to Maybyner Rodney Hilario. Ah, now I have to try a new Pyramid Beer because of this site. A cool site BTW, just skimmed it, but I'll be back there for the reviews and baseball articles. Please let me know in the comments of this post if you find a sixer of this Curve Ball Ale in the Denver Area before me. I like beer. It has been awhile since this came out, but I still listen to it every day on my ipod. Now that's what I'm talking about! If Coach Hawkins can't fire you up for college football season, I don't know who can! Thanks JT for passing this one along. When it isn't a story about the freakin' Yankees, Paul Katcher usually has a good article or photos to view. They put him on ESPN Page 2 occasionally. As softball season just started up last week, be sure to read his story about types of softball players and leagues. It's good, and I wouldn't lead you astray. Checkout today's stuff about the new and quite affordable Starbury shoes. If you like cartoons, Drew Litton at the Rocky Mountain news always has a good one. Though I'm not in agreement w/ this one - Drew Litton Nugs Finally, take a peek at some stats that player agents frequently look at, when trying to evaluate how much they might be able get for NBA players. Of course we're looking at playoff mode, for the Nuggets, but plus/minus stats are being used more and more. Thank you 82games.com I'm not sure what basketball dorks would do without you. Probably end up trying to calculate this stuff in some master fantasy spreadsheet or something. That's all I've got for this Monday afternoon, so I hope you enjoyed it.