Sunday, February 25, 2007

Drafting a Wide Receiver?

I have been preaching Defense, Defense lately on different sports forums for obvious reasons for the upcoming draft and available free agents. While reading all of the draft/free agent threads and posts on RealGM, I've been surprised by the requests/predictions that a WR is a need. Thinking to myself why? We need DEFENSE! We need pass rushing, run stopping defensive players, PERIOD! Not even "period" Rafael Palmeiro style. Well I guess I'm a member of the slow class? The WR need finally sunk in and my curiosity took over. Still wondering why anyone would suggest or hint that we need a WR/WR's?? So I went into my research mode. After refreshing my memory by looking at the Rams' depth chart for the 2006 season a "BRIGHT LIGHT" went on in my head. We need a WR/WR's!

With all the talk about Kevin Curtis and Shaun MacDonald probably leaving the team to pursue larger roles and more money, the WR position needs to be looked at. I mean Isaac Bruce is going to be almost 35 years old when the 2007 season rolls around. Torry Holt and Dane Looker will be 31 years old. Now I'm not sure of the average age of an NFL receiver when the performance on the field starts to decline but I would say 35 is a number of concern if not 31. Also considering Kevin Curtis and Shaun MacDonald were 3rd and 4th on the 2006 depth chart respectively. We need a WR/WR's!

Obviously the durability of Holt and more importantly the aging Bruce are as much of a major concern as always. The concern is greater if in fact Curtis and MacDonald leave the team. Why? Next in line on the depth chart are Willie Ponder and Dane Looker that's why. They would become the 3rd and 4th receivers on the depth chart (in no particular order). During the 2006 season Ponder and Looker combined for "ZERO" receptions which equals "ZERO" receiving yards that means "ZERO" TD's. Willie Ponder? Yeah he's fast but what about his hands? Dane Looker has the hands but no speed, more of a possession type guy. Curtis and MacDonald combined for 53 receptions, 615 receiving yards and 5 TD's. Will Looker and Ponder be to fill those shoes? Maybe? Maybe not! The bigger and more important question is could Looker or Ponder fill in for a Bruce or a Holt? Even if it's for just 1 game? We have known in recent seasons that Curtis could handle a fill in role and even MacDonald could create a threat. Looker and/or Ponder? I know we can't go into the 2007 predicting that Bruce or Holt will be injured but we must be prepared for it. We need that security blanket.

Last season Bruce, Holt and Jackson combined for 257 of the 371 receptions or 69.3% of the passing game. The trio also combined for 3,092 receiving yards out of the 4,328 total receiving yards the team had which equals 71.4% of the passing game. Not to mention the 16 TD receptions. Obviously Head Coach Scott Linehan relied on the big 3 all season and was fortunate that they were able to stay healthy enough to play the whole season. Jackson is already saying he would welcome some help by giving up a few plays a game. With Stephen Davis saying he would like to stay and Tony Fisher hopefully coming back healthy combined with the Marshall Faulk dilemma I'm not as concerned about the RB position. After all if Steven Jackson was asked to do it all, he would and could.

Again the Bruce and Holt durability questions come to mind. Having a guy like Curtis is like having an ace up our sleeve. Even MacDonald could help in certain spots. So I ask, Ponder? Looker? A little scary if you ask me. Since the "Greatest Show on Turf" days, we have become accustomed to our Rams throwing the ball all over the field with a high percentage of success. So duh! I guess we better keep our eyes and ears open for some WR help.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Thoughts on the 2007 NBA All-Star Weekend

This is my first article I've written in a few days so bare with me. This previous weekend that just now has arrived, and has already made it's exit for us was the 2007 NBA All-Star weekend in Vegas. It was a better weekend then I predicted it would be, and it ended with a boom and a bang when the Western Conference blew out the Eastern Conference 153-132. As every year, it's a meaningless games with events that don't really have a place in basketball whereas they shouldn't matter; however, they do. The Slam Dunk competition isn't what it use to be, but this year, it got a few people off their chairs screaming, yelling, and for the rednecks, "hollering," for Gerald Green of the Boston Celtics. Anyhow, I'm writing this to express my thoughts and analysis, dissecting the 2007 NBA All-Star game:

1.) Dick Bavetta versus Charles Barkley (sprint) -- Okay, okay, I had to love this one. It was especially funny at the beginning when Bavetta walked over to the sidelines to take off his sweatpants, then his warm-up jacket. It made it even more hilarious when he was struggling getting off the sweatpants and nearly fell down. He took his place at the baseline across from Sir Charles (Barkley) waiting for the race to begin. Barkley made a fool of himself a few times by stepping over the line before Ernie Johnson made the final "Go" on the "Ready. Set. Go!" call. He finally completed the start of the race, and Barkley stormed off, dominating the whole way, running back and forth, dominaing the competition like a fat man possessed for some Kripsy Kreme donuts. On the final stretch, Barkley started backpedaling, knowing he was on his way to victory, alas Bavetta made a quick dive for it, one last stretching effort, as he busted his knee in the process, while Barkley tripped up and fell on his ass tumbling to the ground, yet still being crowned the winner of the race. All in all, it was a great race, and was very entertaining. Now next year, why not Shaquille O'Neal versus Charles Barkley versus Magic Johnson versus George Gervin. Gervin being the oldest out of them all, it would be nice to see Shaq come away with the victory since he's more in shape than the other 3.

2.) The 3-point shootout -- I enjoyed it. It was a good event this year with a Heat player coming out and taking stride by shying away from the rest of the competition with 24 points in the last round, sinking some racks like no other. He's been a great attribution for Miami this year, but who really thought he would win the contest? A lot of people did, but I didn't think nothing of it; especially when he had those two air-balls, someone yelled "Why in the hell is this guy in here!?" Well to the man that said that, you have your answer. He defeated Washington's Gilbert Arenas, and defending champion of Dallas's Dirk Nowitzki in the Final Round to be named the champ of the event. I would have liked to of seen Gil make it interesting by knocking down some more jumpers tying it at 24 just to make it more exciting in the end, forcing a sudden death round. However, that wasn't the case as he missed jumpers early, and that cost him. In the end, he started shooting some one handers being the same Gilbert Arenas we all know and love.

3.) The Slam Dunk competition -- even though a Heat player didn't win this one, it was still my favorite competition of all from All-Star weekend. It was the most exciting dunk competition in a while (sure, you can say last years was good, but this year tops it by a long shot) with Gerald Green, doing a two-handed windmill bring-it-back dunk off the backboard, leaping over Nate Robinson for a jam, and then completely pulling an aerial assault over a table by jumping completely over it for a nice dunk giving him a 10 from every single judge. You couldn't really top that. Nate was good this year, but he was more spectacular last year when he could actually wow-ed the crowd with his little-guy dunking antics. This year, they wanted more; and while he brought it, there was another deserving contestant who could (or should) have made the final round. That contestant was Dwight Howard, who made a spectacular dunk to finish off his night, as he flew up, he controlled the ball in his right hand, while putting a sticker (of himself) on the backboard, straight on, not even being crooked, while finishing off the one-handed dunk. It was spectacular in that fashion of the concentration of the dunk and move, and it's unique posture in doing so. That should give upcoming, bright, dunkers some good ideas for the future. That's for sure.

4.) The All-Star game -- As I figured would happen, the West won, and Kobe would win the MVP. I had the thought that this would be the year the West would re-control the pace of what would happen in the All-Star game and they did. They ended a 3 year droubt since they last won it in 2004, and Kobe Bryant dominated the game. Even if the game had no avail, none of the players were truly trying to play defense, or playing very hard what-so-ever; you have to look at the fact that Kobe Bryant rehabilitated himself back to the way he played in 2002 when he won Most Valuable Player honors. He's really had quite a year, and is in third of my MVP choices for the season. Dwyane Wade didn't do so hot with only 10 points. However, he didn't need to, anyway. As I've acknowledged and mentioned, the game had no avail, and players were there to have fun (well 95 percent of them. The other 5 percent were there to win MVP, and that was number 24, Kobe Bryant, and number 23, LeBron James) so I'm sure they all did having a time with their horseplay, and their laughing it up throughout the weekend. Back to speaking of LeBron James, he scored 28 points, and if the Eastern Conference All-Stars would have won the game, he would have easily gotten the MVP privileges and honors despite having 4 turnovers, while finishing the game also with 6 assists, and 6 rebounds, right up there with his season averages.

Most Inevitable Moment of the Night: Shaquille O'Neal's crossover, then pull-up over Utah's Mehmet Okur, in the 4th Quarter. When the Eastern Conference All-Stars were down and out, Shaq wanted to give the fans of Las Vegas, and those like me watching at home something to remember this game by, and something to laugh about as well (that's a no-doubter.) He stepped up into a groove, and pulled up for a shot as the ball flung and bricked off the front iron for a big bricked shot by Shaq. Though, who would have thought it would have went in? We should have expected to of seen something crazy of Shaq (as we seen last year throwing the ball of the backboard of a free throw attempt then slamming it down) and our expectations were met. Next year, our expectations? Maybe a 3-point attempt or two. Why not?!

That was it for All-Star weekend, and this is it for my article. All in all, if I had to rate the weekend, I would have to give it a high 8 (out of 10.) It was overall, an enjoyable experience watching it this year, and I'm already thinking about the future events of what is going to happen next year. It's been a surprising, and blistering (for me) so far this season, and is only going to splinter in as the process goes on. I'll be back with another column as soon as possible.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Three Reasons Why I Absolutely Cannot Wait For Baseball To Start Back

Hey guys, it's been a while since I've wrote an MLB column. Like I've stated previously, I'm not much of an off-season chit-chatter when it comes to baseball at all. There are only a few trades that I'm actually intrigued to talk about, so I'm not too fond with off-seasons in any sport of that matter since it means a while until the regular season starts back (the winter is long if you exclude the NFL Playoffs, and the NBA progressing), and the MLB Draft isn't something you're going to jump up and down for every other day when you want more coverage for it. So for those who have been wanting a baseball column from me, here you go ... the top 3 reasons why I absolutely cannot wait for baseball to start back:

1.) The St. Louis Cardinals are mine, and your 2006 World Series champions, hence now the defending champions; that's what is going to make this season so special, knowing that everyone is going to be gunning for us, wishing for their respective team to be "the one," the World Series champions. However, the most special night will be on April 1st, when the Cards welcome the team that they beat to enjoy a trip to the World Series in the NLCS, the New York Mets. That's going to be a near must-watch on ESPN2. However, ESPN2? What is going to be on ESPN at the time? I have no idea, and that makes me disgusted on how America's Pastime is disrespected by having to play on the alternative ESPN station. You have to be kidding me.

2.) One name, two words: Albert Pujols. The guy is a serious animal and led the National League in slugging percentage and on-base percentage last season. The ESPN "experts" claim that he doesn't have speed, but I claim he makes up for it with his defense, his hitting, and not to mention his leadership. He is my favorite player, 'should be your favorite player, and in my offering biased opnion, he is the best player in the Majors (with all-due respect given to Derek Jeter.) He just won the World Series, his stock is high, he is "THE" man of baseball, and is only getting better at the age of 27 (just turned last month.)

3.) The Chicago Cubs, baby! They're the lovable losers of baseball, and as much as I love to rag on them countless times one after the other like it's the 55 bottles of beer on the wall (Kinda like one of my older versions of 98 years on hold on a call); well this year, I'm going to keep it down a bit; however, they retained injury prone Kerry Word and Mark Prior; they're both washed up in my opinion beause of that. They cashed in getting Alfonso Soriano, and beat my Cards last season more than the Cards beat them. However, where were the Cubs at during the post-season as the Cardinals took home the World Series tropy in Game 5 against Detroit? Oh, LAST in the National League Central while the Cardinals stood tall (err..on one foot) in first place. The Cubs will have another season where they will fail to reach even the Wildcard, and end up disgustingly missing the playoffs, as they grunt their teeth once again during the post-season. I love those guys.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Chargers Head Coach Schottenheimer Fired

Despite an early exit from the playoffs, the Chargers announced in January that Marty Schottenheimer would return as coach. That's not the case anymore. ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported on Monday that the team had fired the coach.



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The Top 3 Quarterbacks in the NFC

Since we all know the top Quarterbacks in the AFC are Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Carson Palmer, I thought that I'd make things interesting and alter my opinion up a little bit, and prove some valid points, and bring out some good facts. Yes, I will be talking good (and a little bad *wink wink*) about Matt Hasselbeck, for the first time in a while. Enjoy:

1.) Marc Bulger "duh duh duh duh duh duh duh, if only I could find Torry "Big Game" Holt on a post patttern" (Sorry, I had to pull a Chris Berman.) - Very underrated. While he may have great surrounding talent on offense, he is the NFC's most accurate passer in my opinion. Dude can throw it into the tightest windows despite having a bad offensive line that gave up somewhere in the top 5 most sacks this season, and he only threw 8 interceptions. I mean, Brees couldn't do that I don't believe, and I'm 100% sure that Hasselbeck couldn't even touch it, because Matt has had solid protection for most of his career (I'll get to why I added Matt so low and what his problems are. It just isn't his offensive line. That's for sure.) You can maybe say he has the second/third best running back in the league behind him, but still. We aren't talking about running, we're talking about passing (even though Stevie J. did receive for over 800 yards this season. 'Sounds like he did get his learning tips from the man behind the great Marshall Faulk.) However, with a banged up offensive line, it's hard to do things like this. Believe me, I watched every single Rams game this season (as the die-hard that I am) and easily know this stuff. Bulger has an aging, 34 year old Isaac Bruce, with a 30 year old (turning 31 on April 7th) torry Holt (yet, Bruce can still play, and Holt is the best receiver in the league in my eyes), so still tossing up big numbers like that, just after switching head coaches is just mind boggling. Bulger is bulging into a star. He's like the dark horse of the NFC; he never gets any credit.

2.) Drew "the birds and the" Brees (I made that one up.) - He is the best deep throwing in the conference in my eyes. He can bomb it like no other right now, and that really makes it hard on defenses if you add that, and solid (not great) offensive line protection around him, he can work his magic all over the field if he's given the time with receivers like Joe Horn (who actually, Brees only had two thirds of the year, so maybe he shouldn't be included), Marques Colston, Reggie Bush out in the flats, and with Reggie Bush and Deuce Mcallister lining up behind him in some of the split backs formations while splitting time, it's a deadly Saints' offense. What sets Brees apart from Bulger is that, Brees may have had a *career* season, but one season doesn't make you (however, he's had other seasons where he done *good* but not *GREAT* as in this one), and that's been proven several times in this league. Now if Bulger slumps net season, and Brees has another astonishing season (which I highly doubt), then I'll rank Drew higher than my main man Marc; however, right now, I don't see it at all, and you probably don't either because the only four games you have ever seen Bulger play were in 1.) The 2004 Pro Bowl when he won the MVP, 2.) The Panthers/Rams game in 2004 (Eh!), 3.) The Rams/Bears Monday Night Football game from this past year, and 4.) The 2007 Pro Bowl. Thank you, and come again.

3.) Matt "we're going to take the ball and we're going to score" Hasselbeck (Classic quote of the 2004 Wildcard chokers as he threw the game winnning interception to Green Bay's Al Harris) - I believe this guy has the biggest swagger as a competitor to win at the Quarterback spot in the NFC. He's one of the best leaders (when he's not being a ditz; outside of Brett Favre); but Hasselbeck has molded his character, not necessarily his game, but like I said, his character, after Brett Favre. I mean, versus Arizona, he had a bad knee, broken fingers, torn labrum, but he hustled 10 yards downfield and laid his body out on the line to recover a fumble. He's also very efficient, but over his career in Seattle, he has been plagued by drops, drops, drops, and more drops. With this year having a variety of injuries namely to the Seahawks' offensive line really decimated the effectiveness and chemistry of the offense of the 2006-2007 season.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Goodbye to the American icon the number "3"

My late Father (RIP December 18, 2003) and I wrote this together in February 2001 when Dale Earnhardt Sr. passed away. Since it's going to be 6 years this next Sunday, I thought I'd post this on my blog. 'Hope you enjoy:


Bye bye to an American icon, who drove his Chevy on Sunday when racing was fun.
And good old boys drinking beer in the stands, said Earnhardt, he was their man, yeah Earnhardt, he was their man.

So bye bye to the man in black, he drove the number 3 Chevy on the race track
And good old boys drinking beer in the stands, said that Iron Head, he was their man, yeah, Iron Head, he was their man.

So bye bye to the man in black, he wore dark sunglasses and a baseball cap
Yes, I can still see him with that sneaky grin, I know how much he loves to win.
And good old boys drinking beer in the stands, said the Intimidator, he was their man, yeah, the Intimidator, he was their man.

How did he learn to drive so fast? Did you see him go around him through the grass?
And boy, I can't believe the way he made that last pass.
I know he don't like to finish last.

With seven championships in his hat, it seemed that the man would last and last.
He had been driving for Nascar for twenty some years.
The man in black never shown any fear.

And even though, he had sons who raced, they could never take his place
He was the man you either loved, or hate, this is part of what made him great

So bye bye North Carolina's favorite son, your race is over, you have did all that you could have done.
Just good old boys, having fun, racing in the sun.
They started singing bye bye to a racer's son, everybody knew he was the greatest one.

It was Daytona that he went away, February 18, we won't forget that dreadful day. The day that Nascar died.

By: Troy & T.J. Sparks (February 26, 2001)

Saturdays are for Pro Bowling

Friday, I wrote a column on how useless the Pro Bowl is, and what it can do to teams by injurying key players. So, what happened? Drew Brees (who went 2 for 7 early in the first quarter) dislocated his elbow. Which one, as you frightenly ask? Good news, his nonthrowing elbow. And in other good news, he won't need surgey. See what I mean when I was talking about this, Friday? The Pro Bowl is one tough event, and it is tackle football, by the way. It's not some easy event, where you go out and play two hand touch in your Uncle Sean Glennon's backyard.

Let Brian Moorman of the Buffalo Bills tell you that, as the AFC ran a fake punt in the third quarter of the game yesterday, as he was running down the right side of the field near the sidelines trying to set up a scheme of blocks, when Sean Taylor broke the unwritten rule about hard hits in an exhibition, as Taylor popped Moorman. After the hit, Moorman laid on the ground like he was knocked out for a couple of seconds, then hopped right back up, and congratulated Taylor on the hit, righteously so (Too bad Taylor is too scared to do it to Steven "Action" Jackson, though.) "Believe it or not, it wasn't as bad as it looked," Moorman said. "It was just hard. It took me a second to realize that it didn't hurt so bad, so I got right back up." Yeah, right, Brian. Wait, I'm not doubting you; please, switch positions to offensive line, and come to St. Louis to play for my Rams. Please.

Speaking of the Rams, how did my boys from St. Louis do? Well Marc Bulger played pretty well, going 8/15, 133 yards, except he made a costly mistake when he fumbled on a confusing play, as Baltimore's Adalius Thomas scooped it up like an ice cream cone and ran it back 70 yards for the score. However, Steven "Action" Jackson made up for the Rams' Pro Bowl deal by getting tossed a pitch on 4th and 3 to the left side, he had no room so he ran backwards. I sat there with The Sports Gal thinking, "Yeah, he's going to score. Anyone in the world who has watched the Rams this season knows this beast is going to score." As he ran across the field, he bursted right into a seen carrying at least 3 AFC defenders with him for the touchdown.

It was funny, in my opinion. No one ever really credits the Rams, and how great our offense is (disintellect our offensive line.) One of the commentators made a comment on how you could make an easy case on how Bulger could be the third best quarterback in the league behind Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, on how he flies under the radar so much, never getting any attention. However, when Jackson made that touchdown, it was priceless! How so? The commentary said "None of these guys remember who the Rams are, and they're smashmouth now so they are going to remember this for a month or so. They haven't really gotten to face a Steven Jackson this year, except Sean Taylor, and we know how that turned out (Jackson blew right by him on a 65 yard passing TD, and had the winning touchdown run against the Skins earlier this year running right past Taylor.) If you're the AFC, you think 'WHOA!'"

So, it was Tiki Barber's last official NFL game (however, he still hasn't signed the papers.) He was the first player to score a touchdown in his final NFL game being in the Pro Bowl since Jim Brown in 1966 (41 bleepin years ago.) I don't really know what to say of this matter, but truthfully I think Tiki is scared. Scared of what, you ask? I think he's scared that his pride and dignity will be washed up if he continues to play for more significant seasons due to, as players get older, of course their stats deteriorate, and I don't think he wants that. I think what he wants, is fans to remember what they last seen, that "monster who carried the Giants into the playoffs in the 2006-2007 NFL season!" instead of just trying to do what he always wanted to do in life, because that's why he has the 40's to help him accomplish that. In the 30's, players should make the most of the upcoming end of their career, not retire at the age of 30! (turning 31 on April 7th.) That's a mistake that Barry Sanders made.

Whether it was about Marc Bulger and Tony Romo talking about drinking martini's, or about Steven Jackson and Steve Smith talking about "the power of Steve's" on the sidelines, it was a decent Pro Bowl if you count out the Drew Brees injury. What made it decent was the last game of Tiki Barber, and how we'll remember him. As well as Will Shields; who hads had a trip to the Pro Bowl for a record-tying 12 times in his career is contemplating retirement. So what does that mean for Larry Johnson? Lets see, without the total of all "three" of those guys (Willie Roaf, Tony Richardson (Free Agency), and now Will Shields (thinking about it)), he's going to have to be more like Steven Jackson, and just start carrying defenders more on his back, instead of like most backs searching for the holes. So, does this move Stevie J. up to the second best back in the league yet? I would seem to think so.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

"Fanking" is the word for the Boston Celtics ... Yes, "fanking"


Two weeks ago on ESPN.com's Page 2, my main man Bill Simmons wrote up a column saying that he was officially fantaking his beloved Boston Celtics, where we all know he's the biggest Celtics fan at the Worldwide Sports Leader (ESPN.) So, we're all wondering, Bill, fantanking? I sent The Sports Guy an email a week ago for some feedback on his column, and spoke of it on the Sports Bash on the Pod Center from ESPN.com. He mentioned that a reader sent him an email, saying it should be "fanking" instead of fantanking. Which, of course, I believe he should have changed it to "fanking" for that one special reason, saying at the end of the season when the Celtics blow up and not even get over winning 18 games, he can say "Fank you, Boston" in form to if they can possibly draft Kevin Durant or Greg Oden in late June. Now, I'll take this moment -- Fank you, Bill.

I've been immersed into being a new "fanker" of the Celtics, now for a while. As you guys all know, there's a part of me that is a fan of the Boston Celtics (yet the Celts are still my second team only to you know who), it all came from being the son of a big Celtics fan so of course it happened. So, what is "fanking" (my word!) or "fantaking" (in Bill Simmons' case)? It's when you turn on your team for the greater good, and in the Celtics' case, you have Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, two guys that can really transform the course of your franchise, and if you can get that top spot in the lottery, you're looking at 50/50 odds draft at getting either two of these guys.

So for me, it's a no-brainer. The Celtics weren't going anywhere anyway. They couldn't get Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce got hurt, Tony Allen blew out of his knee. You know, the day Tony Allen blew out his knee was it for me, I completely went into full fanking (or fantanking) mode for the Celts. I mean the Celtics have the perfect team for this, they've lost 17 straight. They have the absolute perfect coach for this situation (Doc Rivers.) The players always play this hard, and this guy always blows it for them in the final minutes. I don't see them getting 18 (or more) wins, I really don't.

So other Celtics fans, are they joining me in fanking? I'm not sure, and just some people just cannot root against their team, and I'm pretty much like this in Football because I'm never as excited for that NFL Draft as I am for the NBA Draft. I'm usually a warm hugging type of guy that wants the team to go on and win games as they please as greatly as they can, however this isn't the case for the Celtics in the NBA. It's pretty obvious!

If I had to choose between Durant and Oden for the Celtics to choose in the draft, I'm not sure. I always knew that Durant was good, and everyone was saying that he was the clearcut number two guy, he's the franchise guy in his own right. Nobody ever mentioned that he could ever surpass Oden in this draft, you know? I watched Durant a couple of times in November, and December, so you never heard anyone comment on Durant playing as well as Oden til basically in January. People basically think Durant is just one-and-done.

Friday, February 9, 2007

It's That Time of Year Again: The NFL Pro Bowl


Guess what, guys? Tommorow is the Pro Bowl! Yes, starting at 6:30PM eastern. Excited? No. Because golly gee, I sure am ... not. The Pro Bowl, you know, it looks like it would be a fun game. There's great scenery with the beautiful Hawaii area, beautiful weather, and just seeing Honolulu itself. However, what it lacks is some actual understanding of the game itself. What I mean is, players are just going to have a shootout making it 60-to-60-something. Granted, it sounds great, but when players are getting injured, and sometimes missing up a little bit into next season, that's what hurts the game, and makes the Pro Bowl not worth while.

And if that seems still reasonable enough for you to continue to watch the Pro Bowl every year with glee, why not look into the perspective that alot of them don't even want to go, and if they weren't getting a nice share of salary on this one, they wouldn't even waste their time on the trip. I just don't understand what's wrong with athletes these days getting such seldom opportunities to do great things, yet only doing them because of money. That leaves me to a big, hearty, and disunderstanding conclusion: Athletes are spoiled brats who excessively look around for their paycheck behind their backs every time you see them. You hardly see any that have heart any more.

So it's the *official* last game of the season now, the NFC versus the AFC. Oh, you're thinking "but the NBA All-Star game is the same way, T-Spark!" and you're saying the same with the MLB All-Star game. However, in the NBA, I can pretty much agree on that one, except it gets more attention because of the high-flyers and exciting plays. I'm not saying that there isn't any exciting plays in the Pro Bowl, but in the NBA, it's just every trip down the court usually, and it can never get old. However, wanna know something that will ruin your appetite? They're mostly playing for a paycheck too (Tyrus Thomas in the Slam Dunk competition.)

Oh, and the MLB All-Star game? They're actually playing for homefield in the World Series. It truly means something in that All-Star game to have a series on the line that could make the difference for your team (however, it didn't effect my Cardinals this past year, baby.) Once again, I'm not saying the Pro Bowl should include some stipulation like this, because in the NFL, that would be asinine considering that they SHOULD be playing on neutral fields, so you can't justify that.

My pick for the Pro Bowl? That's pretty obvious -- The AFC: Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson, Jason Taylor, Shawn Meriman, LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson, Willie Parker. I mean, the list goes on. While I am an NFC guy, I'm unbiased (most of the time), as well, and I'm going to have to go with the AFC on this game, it's the most talented AFC team in a while, and we should be in for a treat tommorow. I just hope Marc Bulger, and Steven Jackson can play some good ball.

Nascar is Back and I will be Watching This Year....


Nascar, the most watched sport (when it comes to ratings, no lie, it has a higher rating than the NFL) will be returning for another season, as it annually does at Daytona, Florida, February 18, 2007 (six years after that dreadful February 18, 2001 when we lost "the man.") The past two seasons (2005 and 2006) haven't been the most fun thing to watch. I pretty much gave up on it at the beginning of the 2005 season, losing interest because of the lackluster drivers in. Lackluster drivers, you ask? Guys like Carl Edwards, Scott Riggs, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, David Stremme, etc. Guys like that ruining Nascar itself. How, you ask? Taking away the popularity of it, and pretty much bringing a whacky image to racing.


What about old drivers? That's what I, and most people would rather see racing out there. It's not moreso because of not wanting the sport to change, but it's more because they had the experience, the veteranship, and the mentality to drive more forcefully out there on the race track and not be afraid to bump another car out of the way (the great Dale Earnhardt Sr. did this.) It just was mind boggling seeing the young guys out there winning races, and getting bumped a little bit by other drivers, and then complaining about it at the end of the race. It just shows how pansy-fied Nascar has came about settling in on safe driving.

While I do agree that driving safe in racing is good and healthy for those drivers who don't want to risk their life, but it's racing! Donate some money, do whatever you can to get new equipment in the car. What is good about racing if you can't take a few bumps here and there on the racetrack while driving? It's ridiculous that some of these drivers complain excessively, and end up not making any sense of it. They need to bulken up and realise that it isn't Ridge Racers, and they need to get level-minded, same with the whole Nascar organization.

Nascar, as most of you know that know me, runs as a tradition in my family. Well, my late father's side of the family. My Father, one of my Uncles, and I use to sit around and watch the race every Sunday. It was great watching the black, number "3" car demand he'd not lose, and force himself to victory. It was great then. I learned a good lesson my father taught me: "Chevy ... Chevrolet." Hmm? That's a thing that I picked up on, too. Never cheer for any Ford or Dodge. Just cheer for a select 3 of Chevy drivers. When Dale Earnhardt Sr. died on that fateful day in February 18, 2001. It was the 3 drivers -- Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, and the man who now drives the Goodwrench Chevrolet, Kevin Harvick. Why did we cheer for Tony Stewart, you ask? Because of his fearless attitude; that's what made him one hell of a driver.

"Ford: The Ultimate Enemy of Chevy" is what I picked up on, you know? "Never betray one of your favorite drivers unless they betray you," my Dad always told me "If Earnhardt (Sr.) ever switched from Chevy to Ford, I would have cheered for him, because my loyalty is proven through his seven championships. He's a proven winner. Now if Jr. ever switches from Chevy to Ford, then that's just the betrayal of him; he'd be switching from the best driving brand out to the losers' brand. He hasn't even proved that he can win, so if he switches to Ford, then he can prove his ignorance and losing ways.

"
Now, that looks like it's about to happen, unfortunately. Probably next season since Dale Jr. probably will be unable to retrieve complete ownership of DEI, and he will leave selfishly if he fails inadequately. So if it ultimately does happen, in the most inevitable way possible, I say Fuck Ford, and fuck anyone who drives for Ford, as I've had that mindset my whole life, and I'm going to loyally stick by that. Ten more days until the Daytona 500, folks. It's been 3 years since I've written about racing, and this is my first article since! Get use to it.

Looking for my Top 5 drivers this year? I'll include them in my Daytona Special article in a couple of days. Warning: May contain biased picks, though.

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Duke/Carolina thoughts and then some


So last night, the greatest rivalry in College Basketball (and arguably all of sports) renewed itself another year -- Duke and North Carolina. Now, while the first half was dinner, the second half, us Duke fans didn't get any share of the dessert as my Dukies ultimately lost 79-73. You know, coming into the game last night, I flipped on the TV, with 19:58 to go (I accidentally missed the first two minutes! So what?! Sue me!), and Paulus shredded the defense with a pass to a wide-open Jon Scheyer, he knocked down the bucket. So I sat there thinking, "ahh, there's no way can beat Carolina. Not on this night, no." Then, I gained motivation to start thinking we would as we had a 5 point lead at halftime. I truly believed that the Devils could hold on just for twenty more minutes to beat the #5 Heels.

Alas, I cannot really say what went wrong, except I was unfortunately wrong. My prediction on here was wrong, and my thought on the end result was wrong. But who am I kidding? They are a good North Carolina team this year -- not great; but good. I expected we would hold up on Forward, Tyler Hansbrough, and we did ... for what you would usually expect, holding him to 16 points. What really got him going in the second half was drawing contact into an already frustrated Josh McRoberts (who in the end, finished the game off with 4 fouls.) The contact that was drawn really got him to the line a pretty good amount of times to knock down some freebies, and allowed some extra pressure to fall back for Carolina, and really it landed on us, and we couldn't create very many opportunities down the stretch. And when we did, they were so seldom because the Tar Heels' defensively, really stepped up during the final minutes and caught us off-guard on some points that could have been.

Oh, and it didn't helped that we had three more turnovers (16) than the Tar Heels (13.) What makes it even worse for the guys and gals that have disacknowledged Greg Paulus all season long is that he didn't even have any turnovers. The two Dukies that did were McRoberts and Nelson at 4. Turnovers undoubtedly makes you feel like puking, too. It doesn't get any worse than watching someone turn it over (Josh McRoberts) and then fall flopping face first to the hardwood in attempt to make it look dramatic. 'Dude needs to just let it be as it is, ackowledge the mistake, hold his head high, and play the game the way it's meant to be played. That is another factor that hurt us in the end, the motivation and the control that really helped us thrive in the first half with all the fluid energy we were playing with. You know, Greg Paulus really helped us with that too in the first half, and that's something you can't show with stats, you would just have to watch the game to know. However, in the second half, the emotion for the 'Devils just got carried away, and that really knocked us out in the finall eight minutes, as Brandan Green put the icing on the cake, as Wes Miller added the sprinkles to the cupcake, we lost to Carolina in another rivalry game that you wouldn't be surprised at. March 4th, we'll have our vengeance in some way or another.

Tyrus Thomas: He's full of something!

Moving onto the NBA: Chicago Bulls' Rookie Forward, Tyrus Thomas, said this to the press on Monday: "Ok, I'm here to pick up my check, and call it a day" regarding the NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk competition. The next day, the league fined him $10,000 for the comments. However, Tyrus apologized and said he was sorry for any negatie feelings from this comments. You know, there's actually a nasty, devilish part of me that wants to give this guy a standing ovation for telling the truth on what he's acting there to do instead of lying to the media. However, I don't want to now, because that's what he actually feels about the NBA, and it's a pathetic aspect of the game. He isn't sorry, he just feels he has to say that he's sorry so that his "image" or he reputation won't decrease because of this. Sure, the mainstream NBA fan will think nothing less of it, due to they probably not even knowing who he is. However, us basketball enthusiasts willl look back, and say "So this is what the NBA is coming to? A player admitting that he's only playing for the money, which most are holding back from us."

This type of behavior from the players kind of makes you want to rip your hair out, since you know how the majority in the league feel, but what about the minority? I think they should all believe, and think that it's an honor to have a chance to be a professional basketball player, and acknowledge that they have actually stepped onto the courts that the great Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird have played in. Instead, they disgrace the sport, open widingly saying that they're out for the money. That's wrong, and sick when you think about it, even if they're telling the truth and being honest. The media and the fans (including me) don't want to hear this, really. We want to hear "I can't wait until All-Star Weekend. It's going to be an honor to perform in front of Dr. J, and MJ." Right?

Right, and a wrong in my opinion. The majority of the NBA fans want to hear that, but fans similar to me enjoy hearing the truth, however that doesn't belittle the main strength that you should go out there and make a fool of yourself saying that you are going out there for the money. Play it smart, Tyrus, get some charisma going on, and play it cool. How do you think guys in other sports like Peyton Manning do it? They play it cool, and keep their mouths shut when it comes to silly comments because they know the media is on them enough as it is with other things. You're still a Rookie, and you haven't amounted to anything yet. Start building your skills, then talk, and when you do open your mouth, make sure you don't have the crackpipe stuck in there, because if you do, chances are you'll come out with another BULLShit statement.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Greatest NFL Offense of All-Time


Sure, the other offenses of All-Time were brilliant and perhaps, at times, arguably unstoppable, but no one had the mystique of the 1999-2001 GREATEST SHOW ON TURF St. Louis Rams -- everyone knew they couldn't stop them. Before Kurt Warner got hurt, he was going to smash every single-season record for QBs ever -- and easily, at that. After he got hurt, all of a sudden the backup puts up comparable stats. It was unfathomable -- teams gave up 30 and more points and were satisfied with their performances.


Lets talk the 2000 playoffs that year, the Saints lead the Rams by (what I remember as) oh maybe, three touchdowns going into the fourth quarter, a seemingly insurmountable lead, and Dan Fouts and company kept saying, "You can't be sure with the Rams." Sure enough, the Rams stormed right back to within a touchdown in a matter of minutes and would have certainly won if Hakim hadn't fumbled a punt. Sure, a year later, people have them figured out, thanks to Bill Belichick, but the fact that it took that long is just a tribute to Mike Martz and the amazing talent of that Rams offense.

Lets keep talking 2000, and reformat:
St. Louis averaged 33.8 points per game in 2000, about a point more than in 1999, when the Rams were also an offensive powerhouse, and a couple more than in 2001. Those three years together guarantee the Kurt Warner/Marshall Faulk offense a permanent place in NFL history, but what makes the 2000 season stand out is that the offense did it with relatively little help from the D, which was the worst in the NFL. In their first six games, the Rams averaged 43.7 points a game. Then they were thrown for a bit of a loop when Warner missed five games with a broken pinky. However, we had the best team of all 3 in 2001 overall, despite losing the Super Bowl to one that was called "America's Game" to a team that wore Red, White, and Blue, to a team that were considered underdogs, and were "America's Team" for that game alone.

But Warner, who played only 11 games, averaged 9.9 yards per pass attempt, and his backup, Trent Green, played eight games that would have been, statistically, the envy of just about any other NFL starter. Together, the two QBs combined for 5,492 yards in the air. Faulk, meanwhile, scored 28 touchdowns; he ran for 1,359 yards, averaging 5.4 yards per carry; he also caught 81 passes for 830 yards, averaging 10.2 yards a catch. Wide receivers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce each caught 80-plus passes.

The key here is the Rams' 2000 offense remained great despite Warner's injury and despite the fact every NFL defense knew what was coming. "The Rams created a mystique last year with how explosive they were," said Panthers safety Eugene Robinson late in the season. "Their defense could give up 35 points, and they'd put up 50 points. Everybody was like, 'Oh, man, they're the greatest thing since sliced bread.' Rightfully so. Now, all you need to do is have a very good defense, play sound ball, keep things in front, and don't give up the big play."

Right.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Bill Polian/Duke versus North Carolina thoughts

Bill Polian.. The True Successor of the Indianapolis Colts

You know, I forgot to include one key guy from the Colts' success (ever since 1996.) And the guy is Bill Polian, the president of the Colts. He went through the 4 consecutive Super Bowl drouts with the Buffalo Bills from '90 to '93; he suffered the NFC Championship loss with the Carolina Panthers in 1996. Now, he's won the Super Bowl. However, how did he make the Colts such a valuable franchise? Well I shall list:

1.) In the 1998 NFL Draft, he had the choice of selecting one of the two marquee Quarterbacks out of College. It was either going to be Tennessee's Peyton Manning, or Washington State's Ryan Leaf. He made a Colts' forever life changing decision, by selecting Peyton Manning, and it paid off! Manning has won two MVP's since 1998, and has kept the Colts to four consecutive 12 win seasons since 2003. Ryan Leaf? Oh, he's sitting at home right now wondering what went wrong as he had playing problems as well as attitude problems, and retired in 2000 due to a bogus "injury."

2.) Drafting Marvin Harrison. How did he end up doing so? By trading Marshall Faulk to the Rams (thank you, Bill!) and helping the city of St. Louis and other Rams fans (like me) watch the Rams win a Super Bowl, and appear in another, while watching Marshall win two offensive player of the year awards, as well as two runner up MVP awards (both runnerup beside teammate, Kurt Warner.) In all seriousness, though, Polian got what he wanted out of Marvin Harrison. A receiver alot like Isaac Bruce, that could take a good jump out of the snap, skyrocket up the field, run his route to perfection, and catch the ball. It paid off adding Manning to the helm, and 6 seasons later from 1996, was 2001, they drafted Reggie Wayne. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Duke and North Carolina. The rivalry is back, baby.

It doesn't get any better than this. It's Duke and North Carolina, baby. Mono-e-mono as it usually is. Two colleges that loathe eachother, yet still respect eachother, and that's why this rivalry is just so great to watch. I'm a Duke fan, so this may sound bias to you, however take alook at things. North Carolina beat us nine of ten times from 1993 to 1998. Then, how about Duke?! We defeated North Carolina ten of eleven times from 2000 to 2003. We beat them more times in 4 seasons. It's not always lopsided (one-sided) though. If you've taken a look in previous years, they've traded off games back and forth. It's a great rivalry, and undoubtedly great to be a fan of Duke. It's just hard when taking a loss in a rivalry. And that could happen in one day, baby.

While I'm pulling out Dick Vitale "baby"'s, I'll make my prediction and it's going
to be tough. I feel overall that North Carolina is the better team (taking away my bias writing, you dig) with more talent surrounding them. Take a look at Tyler Hansbrough. Now, I'm not a fan of the guy, obviously, but I would have to be an idiot not to acknowledge the talent he has. He can grab the boards down low, and post-up. The only thing that is going to stop this kid from playing in the pros one day is the ability to shoot the jumper which he hasn't been able to do ... at all!

His counterpart on Duke, Josh McRoberts? He's another aggressive player in the post, while I feel he isn't as good as Hansbrough (because Tyler is depended on more early, and often while McRoberts doesn't have that much pressure), McRoberts can hit the jumper, and that sets them both apart forcing Hansbrough to guard him from the wing on several times. While he isn't the most accurate shooter on Duke, he can still take players out of the post, and look for a player like DeMarcus Nelson or Jon Scheyer to cut to the basket, and he's been doing that this season. The major flaws of Josh McRoberts are that he can't get shots to bounce off the back-iron and go in, and that's been hurting him alot this season (the Clemson game, the Florida State game, the Virginia Tech game, several games) so he's been unable to use the back-iron to any
strength, and it's the same with the backboard. The only other thing I question of McRoberts is his speed; but he has two more seasons with Duke to see how he can utilize that.

Now Duke and North Carolina are definitely familiar teams in these perspectives. However, you want my prediction? I'm going to take a biased prediction, and say Duke pulls off the upset 74-70. That is, if the Blue Devils can take a'hold of the Tar Heels' offensive speed, and slow them down making them play our game, a half-court tempo offense, slowing them down to not create any quick movements from Danny Green, Brandan Wright, or Ty Lawson. If Duke can do that effectively, and create points on the offensive side of the ball by finding Scheyer on the wing, and having DeMarcus Nelson resent to the dribble, and pull up, creating space, and taking shots then Duke has a great chance to win this game.

Monday, February 5, 2007

Super Bowl Thoughts

Well the big game has officially happened, and it's all in the books now. The Bears versus the Colts. Two long traditioned teams battled off on February 4th, 2007. Who won? The Indianapolis Colts, 29-17 (Note: I guessed the score exactly right. Please..please..thank you..oh no, you shouldn't have..thank you.) Yes, Peyton Manning wins his Super Bowl. My Dad, my [most favorable] Uncle, and I always said that Manning would never win a Super Bowl ring. Friday morning, I gave in, and said he would get his ring and actually win the MVP trophy. He most certainly did that, and I can't believe I'm going to say this but congratulations Peyton Manning. You earned it.

However, don't give all the emotional credit to Peyton Manning. Why not give it to the real Indianapolis Colts' leader, Tony Dungy? The guy is one of the best coaches in the league. He has been for the past couple of years, while unfortunately they were losing playoff games by subvisional mistakes that accidentally happen, and which costed them the games (Peyton Manning's Patriot picks, Mike Vanderjagt's missed field goal, Nick Harper unable to return an INT (only having to get by one guy, the Quarterback.) Most of the losses, alot of people put it on Tony's back (while most put it on Peyton.) Nobody really paid attention to that, but he made good calls; he ran good plays. What went wrong? His players didn't show up.

But this year, they did. For the man in the blue Colts' cap, Dungy has been through not only the playoff losses in his life, but also to a family death when his son, James, took his own life a little over a year ago (December 2005.) I can surely relate to losing someone (I've lost enough) to death, but losing an actual son, someone that is suppose to outlive you, instead you outliving them must hurt pretty bad, and I'm too young to relate to something like that, but I know what Tony has felt over the past year. The guy is an emotional leader, he doesn't need to go off the top on the sidelines to yell. Dungy preached the power of "NOW" to his team all year, and they listened this time. They done it in the playoffs, and made "NOW" count. Not the regular season where they had some mediocre games. They proved everyone wrong. I'm not a Colts' fan, but I have to say thank you, Tony Dungy, thanks for showing the football world that someone can turn things around and get it done, upset all of the odds, and win the "big game."

What the Colts did right in this game:
The Colts really controlled the tempo of this game. What I mean is, they really controlled the time of the clock, and they mostly did that in the first half only giving Rex Grossman only 19 snaps to work with. That's a big statistic, and the Colts really worked the time of possession greatly. However, how did they do it, you ask? The turnovers. They turned it over alot, but the Bears gave the ball right back to them, and that really helped Peyton Manning, keeping the ball, controlling the game time, and making some great audibling calls to confuse the Bears' defense, wearing them down with short passes out into the flats to Joseph Addai, Dallas Clark, and Ben Utecht. The other thing they did well was keeping motivation in control, and when Devin Hester scored that touchdown in the First Quarter to give the Bears a 7-0 on the opening kickoff, the Colts stuck in there and battled back, and kept battling all game long.

What the Bears did wrong in this game:
The Bears simply just couldn't stop the Colts' offense. The only player that consistently did his job last night was Brian Urlacher. Every other player was just on bum legs dropping back into coverage, giving Manning time and letting Manning pass out into the flats to Addai, or send it off on a draw to Rhodes. That really hurt the Bears in Super Bowl XLI, and ultimately costed them the game by keeping them on the field too long. And if that wasn't hurting them enough, Grossman came out, and made some terrible mistakes. Dropping the ball, fumbling, having to run back and dive at the ground due to ignorant mistakes, and then making terrible passes to Colts' defenders in which he should have ended up with three interceptions.

Friday, February 2, 2007

Super Bowl Prediction

Yin and yang. Thats sort of the theme for this Super Bowl, because the teams seem to be complete opposites.

In the Indianapolis Colts, we have a great offensive team. They are balanced and lethal, able to score on 1 play or shove a 15 play drive right down your throat. Peyton Manning seems poised to break all sorts of QB record by the time he retires, Joseph Addai is getting better and better as he gains experience, and the WR corps (led by Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne) may be the best in the NFL (right next to Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce.) But they aren't the '99-'03 Greatest Show on Turf St. Louis Rams by any means.

In the Chicago Bears, we have a great defensive team. They are fast and relentless, able to bring the pressure or drop back and force you to make a bad throw. They are led by their MLB, Brian Urlacher, who will go down as one of the GOAT. They pressure the QB, their secondary makes great plays, and everyone just swarms to the ball.

So we know what we’re going to get from these two units. Which means that for the most part this game will be decided when the Bears offense is on the field. The Bears offense has been consistently inconsistent all season, led by Rex Grossman. Through a quarter of the NFL season Grossman was the NFL MVP. By the last quarter of the season fans were about split on whether or not he should still be the starter. He has physical tools, but he’s still a young guy and gets rattled and forces things when pressured.

The Colts defense was much maligned all season long but has come to play in the playoffs. In the first 2 rounds they were nearly impenetrable, and in the Conference Championship they made stops when they had to. Led by Dwight Freeney, they are a fast and athletic unit, but they have been pushed around at times.

So what does all of this mean? Well, I think the QB matchup will tell the tale. Peyton Manning has been historically good in his career while Rex Grossman is one of (if not the) worst Quarterbacks ever to make a Super Bowl. I expect the Colts fast front 7 to get to Grossman and put pressure on him, forcing him to make bad throws and get rid of it before he has to. Then I expect Manning to capitalize on those and score enough on the Bears stout defense to bring the Super Bowl to the Indianapolis, officially getting the monkey off of Peyton Manning’s back.

I've been a pretty strong Grossman basher all season, and I still don't think he's very good. They're in the Super Bowl, but it's mostly because of the great defense and special teams, and the fact that they've found the running game here in the playoffs in a big way. If I'm wrong and Grossman wins the Super Bowl, I'll be eating my words on Monday, and you Chicago Bears fans will have all the right in the world to taunt me. However, I don't think I'll be having to do that.

Colts 29-17 (You know, everyone is picking 17, and while I thought I would pick a unique number. 17 just sounds right for the Chicago Bears. I'm going to hop the number 17 bandwagon to look cool. No, really, the Bears will score only 17, and the Colts may return an interception for a touchdown off of Grossman. The only legit passing touchdown I think the Bears will have a shot at is to Mushin Muhammad. Why? He has the Super Bowl experience, and is kind of like the way Michael Irvin played in the playoffs; making great plays, and doing it well. The Colts FTW.

MVP: The choker, Peyton Manning. I know, I've criticized him in my writing throughout all of his career (you have too. Don't lie.) but it's scripted up for him to win MVP. If it isn't him, it's going to be Joseph Addai, and I don't see them wanting to give a rookie Running Back that award, so they're going to give it to the future hall of famer and try to put him in the class of Tom Brady, already. Nice ones, NFL.

And hell, if it's not Manning or Addai, then it will be none other than Adam Vinatieri, that's my sleeper/homer pick.

If New England, San Diego, or Baltimore were playing on Sunday, they would be able to defeat Chicago. Lets give some props to the Bears, and especially to Lovie Smith, though. What a season for these guys to make it to the Super Bowl. Just good luck to them on making a run at the tough Indianapolis Colts.
This is not your Grandfather's NFL. You have to have at least a decent offense to win the big game.

Thursday, February 1, 2007

The O.J. Mayo Incident

Not sure if this is big news yet or not, but apparently there was a little incident involving one of the top prospects in all of high school basketball, OJ Mayo, and a referee in one of Mayo's games.

Mayo had a pretty nice dunk, then got a technical foul for taunting afterwards. After a little discussion with the referees, Mayo was given a second technical for running his mouth a bit and was ejected from the game.

As you can guess, things didn't end there. Mayo then followed the ref over to the scorer's table, and the two bumped lightly. Or at least that's what it looked like. However the referee took quite a tumble, much to the disbelief of Mayo.

You have to watch the video for yourself, but there are 2 possibilities here:

1.) The ref's feet got tangled with Mayo, which could not be seen on camera
OR
2.) The ref is the worst actor in the world.

You decide: