StoryESPN.com's Bill Simmons says that Pistons GM Joe Dumars isn't hall of fame worthy and I agree with him. Dumars never made the all-NBA First team among other accomplishments that Sports Guy touched on during his column.
Remember, the main point of the column was to say how flawed the HOF process is. In this stupid process, Joe D should be in the hall, but if they did it the right way, he doesn't.
Take Dumars for what he's worth, he was pretty good, but he doesn't deserve to be a HOF-er in a legit system.
It doesn't matter anyway, until Jim Rice is in the baseball HOF, the entire system remains a train wreck. How is he not in?
Six years in the top 5 of the MVP voting, hit .333 in his only WS, 78 and 79 were two of the best offensive years anyone has ever had, career BA .298, career OBP .352, finished in the top ten of OPS 6 times, had 39 doubles in a season twice.
I have no idea how wade boggs is in and rice isn;t. who do you think red sox fans came to see in the 70's and 80's? boggs to walk twice and go 0-2? or rice hit a ball onto another planet? Yeah, I thought so.
Feelings clash about Jeter The Kansas City Star's Joe Posnanski tells us why Derek is Jeter is hated and loved. Personally, I think he is clearly the MVP this year. Jermaine Dye has great numbers but Jeter has good numbers and is the most influential player to any team, beside Mariano Rivera, who for whatever reason isn't allowed to win the MVP. By the way, Jeter is hitting .341, is 29-32 in stolen bases and will win the gold glove at the toughest position to play in baseball, shortstop.
Simmons approvedESPN.com's Bill Simmons gives his thoughts on everything from Madden to old movies.
Adam Vinatieri The reason the Indianapolis Colts will win the Super Bowl.
Foreign Hoops Is All Greek to U.S. The Washington Post's and PTI's Michael Wilbon writes about the state of US basketball. I thought they would win it. I thought that the only team that could beat us was Agentina and they couldn't hit a three to save their life and we killed them. But, we couldn't beat Greece, who doesn't have any NBAers on their entire roster. Awful, just awful basketball.
A question of mistrust Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel writes about Ryan Howard's inflated home run numbers and the question of steroids. I love what Howard is doing. I heard actual people who get paid to talk about sports say that Howard might drop off like Bobby Abreu because he won the Home Run Derby. Yes, that's true. Howard has 52 home runs now and is in my opinion, the NL MVP. I hope he goes for 62 and sets the clean home run record.
The great QB debates Sports Illustrated's Peter King has his readers breakdown various QB situations. A really risky situation is Daunte Culpepper and Joey Harrington in Miami. If Culpepper is healthy, then they can contend for the division and go 11-5 or 10-6. If not, it's more like 7-9 or 8-8.
Laurence Maroney isn't likely to play in week one. This stinks, I have him number one on my sleeper list. I think he could be this year's Larry Johnson.
Nothing to see ESPN.com's Gene Wojciehowski says Notre Dame won and it wasn't pretty. I loved watching this game. Number one, because I hate Norte Dame. Number two, I love Calvin Johnson. Johnson, the best wide reveiver in college football right now, is by far Georgie Tech's best player. The reason they lost to Notre Dame is because Tech didn't get Johnson the ball enough. He had good numbers, 7 catches 111 yards and a touchdown. They don't know how to run a scheme for a top wide out. They should just toss the ball up to Johnson all the time. They only ran one fade all game and scored a touchdown on it. Theire inexperience quarterback, Reggie Ball, couldn't get him the ball deep and that's why they lost. By the way, this kid is not just good, he's top five NFL draft pick good.
Eli, Peyton reluctantly take center stage I can't wait for Manning vs. Manning part one. We know this won't be the only time they hook up for a battle.I have Eli in the first. The G-men are loaded and have home field advantage.
Watch coach plow down opposing team player -- 1:35 If you haven't seen this #### parent nail a kid for a late hit on his kid, then you just haven't lived yet. If you think parents that let their kids pitch 'til their arms fall off in baseball are stupid, wait 'til you see this ####
Horns rise to No. 2 in time for No. 1 Ohio St. Biggest game of the season so far is coming this Saturday. I think OSU will take it. A senior QB vs. a freshmen QB. I thought OSU would win last year because they were at home and their defense was better than Texas'. It was, but I didn't factor in Vince Young. I still am convinced that if OSU would've started Troy Smith instead of Justin Zwick, they would've won. But, let's not split hairs.
Tiger clinches eighth PGA Player of Year award He also won his fifth straight tourny and has said he will take the next two weeks off. He might be more dominant than MJ, but still, he plays freaking golf.
Papi back after 8-game absence He was cleared by doctors, so he's set to go. If it were me or one of my players, I would let him take the rest of the year off. I mean their 9 games back of the Yankees why risk anything?
DREW SHARP: Spartans blow shot at blowout victory Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp says that when you schedule cupcakes, if you don't kick their butt, it'll look like a loss, just look at Michigan State only beating Idaho by seven.
Wolverines turn up the heat, sort of, against Vanderbilt Detroit News columnist Terry Foster almost gets in a fight with Bo Schembechler and writes a good column on Michigan's dissapointing showing in the 27-7 win over Vandy.
FSU-Miami: Blame the coaches ESPN.com's Bruce Feldman says to blame the coaches for the poor offensive effort on labor day's matchup. Three rushing yards by both teams total. Awful football.
Amazon.com: Forty Million Dollar Slaves By: William C. Rhoden, it's not only my latest read, but it's this New York Times columnist's take on the corrections the black athletes have to make and the slave mentality in sports.
Full story Sportsline's power rankings have the Mets 1 and the Yanks 2. I would love a Subway Series, because the Mets have not pitching.
Position battles Sportsline's Pete Prisco breaks down the key position battles. I think he wrote this before Maroney got hurt, so that would explain the first one.
Open Book: A Sports Blog Oakland Press columnist Pat Caputo brings up Bobby Layne in the first sentence. Sorry, that's as far as I got in to reading it. It might be what Lion fans want to hear.
Cole column Yahoo Sports' Jason Cole writes about the highest profile position in football, the wide receivers. I will leave you with a fantasy tip: It's not about getting two running backs in the first round this year. If you get one sure fire in the first 6 picks, then this doesn't apply, but if you are at a point where the best wide receiver availible is still Randy Moss and the best RB is Kevin Jones, go with Moss. Don't take a back just to take a back. There are 18 teams that don't have to split carries between multiple backs. That leaves 14 with carries up for grabs. Make sure to get for-sure wide outs, because RBs are a crapshoot.
What if I told you I had a column by the Boston Globe's Bob Ryan, is that something you might be interested in? In Ryan's column, his point is getting back to his roots as a fan and how we all should do the same. He, and many, thought that after the Red Sox won the 2004 world series, that Bostonians would take a chill pill and relax and be a normal baseball city, instead of the finger-pointing madhouse that they have made Fenway Park into. Just two years since the WS championship and fans already want Theo Epstein out as general manager. We all knew this would happen eventually, but two years after winning it all??? Ryan wants Boston to chill out and forget about the Yankees and just enjoy baseball. I don't think that's going to happen, but stranger things have happened.
Like this. Yes, Allen Iverson's mom owning her own ABA team is definatly more strange than Red Sox fans getting along while the team blows. Wow. In a year or so, they'll be able to beat the Knicks.
The New England Patriots are winning the division in Pete Prisco's AFC EAST Preview. But more importantly, he thinks that Pats first round pick Laurence Maroney is going to take Corey Dillon's job and get more carries and touchdowns. This would make Maroney a big time fantasy sleeper because many believe that it will take a year or so for Maroney to get the starters job. I don't. Maroney has been ready for the NFL since his sophomore year at Minnesota, at least physically. He is a tank physically. He pares in comparison to a young Rickey Williams, wait til he fills out. That will be Ricky, minus the hippie lettuce.
It's over, it's official the USA National Team has no competition in the FIBA Tourney. What about Argentina? Well, did you see their last three point shooting preformance? Yeah, 1-for-18 isn't so good. Yeah they won that game, but the tourney favors teams that shoot and defend the three point line. Nobody else has the team to beat the USA now.
This is the kind of stuff that kills a team in a fantasy baseball pennant race. A bad team taking out their best young pitchers and shutting them down so they can save them for next year. Yeah, this is what's right for their team, but how do you think Scott Kazmir owners or Jeremy Sowers owners (Me and my Dad) feel? Pissed off, that's how. We are now forced to pick up some september call-up or even worse some guy who's been hurt all year or even worse some guy who just sucks and he's still availible because he's so bad.
Bill Simmons went to Milwaukee. This is his funniest diary since the NBA Draft, I think you'll like it.
The Detroit Free Press' Drew Sharp thinks the Tigers let a serious opprotunity to burry the White Sox get away, again. Nothing is good enough for Sharp. The Tigers took two of four, winning the first two and losing the last two in horrific fashion. Taking two out of four was fine because if they retain this lead, they can lose four games in Chicago in September and still have the lead.
Unlikely pairings Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski weighs in on the T.O. and Bill Parcells issue. Personally, I can't wait until they stop leading off every sportscenter with this ####. So, that's like February.
Detroit News columnist Terry Foster says the Lions are in line for another losing season. Full Story But, the troubling fact is that the Lions have three backup quarterbacks and one of them will have to start.
Can the U.S. return to dominance in basketball? There's what ESPN.com's Scoop Jackson thinks.
ESPN.com's Seth Wickersham didn't plan on his Five burning questions being all about quarterbacks, but they are. It's one of the most pressure positions in all of sports next to General Manager of the New York Yankees. Quick backstroy: When current Yanks GM Brian Cashman showed up on the job in '93 (not yet the GM, but he worked for the team), Cash was a big guy, some may call heavy or fat. Now, he is a skinny little guy from all the stress (did I mention he's losing his hair?).
ESPN.com's John Clayton says Drew Henson's release inevitable. Henson was the highly touted two sport star at the University of Michigan. After his colligate football career he went on to play minor league baseball with the Yankees. He received a heafty signing bonus, before he had proved anything. He still holds the Michigan high school baseball record for most consecutive games with a hit at the Varsity level (I think it's around 44 or so). Henson then went to the Cowboys, where he only started one game in his career there. Henson is the biggest bust in Michigan history. He was and is all hype. You look at his tools and it's true, he's a very gifted athlete naturally, but his work ethic wasn't enough to master two sports, even one for that matter. What's next for Drew Henson? He could play basketball for Iverson's Mom in Virginia, brilliant.
I usually don’t like doing these kinds of things, but the draft is a lot more fun to watch if I can compare what actually happened to my mock draft. This is not who I think each team SHOULD pick; this is who I think each team WILL pick. I know trades will screw up my mock, but I don’t want to take the time to make up crazy trades. Okay?
Number One Pick -- Toronto Raptors – Andrea Bargnani Italy – This is the classic case o####uy from a country we don’t know with a name we can’t pronounce. The Raptors are getting foreign fever, much like the Pistons in 2003 with Darko. I’ve never seen him play, I don’t think many have, but I don’t think he’s worth the number one pick in the draft.
Number Two Pick – Chicago Bulls – Tyrus Thomas LSU – Thomas carried LSU throughout March Madness. He is said to be the next Shawn Marion; I seriously doubt that. Ty probably has the most upside in the draft; I like him in the number two spot for the Bulls.
Number Three Pick – Charlotte Bobcats – Brandon Roy Washington – Roy is the most complete player in the entire draft. He is one of the few that will contribute as soon as he gets on the floor. Roy will win the NBA rookie of the year award next season. MJ likes him and so do I.
Number Four Pick – Portland Trail Blazers – Adam Morrison Gonzaga – He could be Chris Mullen and he could be just another token white guy on an NBA roster. The Blazers want Ammo to boost ticket sales and that for sure will happen. He is a lock to fulfill those expectations. As for the other ones, who knows? I think he’ll be good.
Number Five Pick – Atlanta Hawks – LaMarcus Aldridge Texas – This is an awful fit. The Hawks need a point guard badly and most likely all of the point guards will be available at this spot. But, we are dealing with the Hawks, the same team that took Marvin Williams (UNC) over Chris Paul (Wake Forest) last year. Yeah, I think they want that one back.
Number Six Pick – Minnesota Timberwolves -- Marcus Williams UCONN – Williams is the best point guard and best pure point guard in the draft. He is a good fit in Minny with KG, who will look to leave if the Wolves don’t get him any help. GM Kevin McHale needs to do something; how do you have the MVP from two years ago and NOT make the playoffs?
Number Seven Pick – Boston Celtics – Rudy #### UCONN – Some say that #### needs to be motivated to play. He would be a good fit in Miami, 15 strong. #### isn’t even that good of a fit with the C’s, but he has the most upside of anyone still on the board and the C’s love upside, they drafted Al Jefferson and Gerald Green based purely on upside. They need a point guard, I could see trading up or drafting Rajon Rondo.
Number Eight Pick – Houston Rockets – JJ Redick Duke – The Rockets are looking to make a playoff run this year, throw upside out the window. They would’ve made the playoffs last year, but Yao and Tracey McGrady both got hurt. Redick can really shoot. And yes, I just came up with that. T-Mac driving and kicking to a wide open JJ for the three, could happen a lot next year.
Number Nine Pick – Golden State Warriors – Randy Foye Villanova – People are calling every combo-guard in the draft the next Dwyane Wade and Foye is no different. I don’t think that Foye is the next Wade, maybe more like a poor man’s Jason Terry. Playing with another shoot-first guard in Baron Davis isn’t a good fit, but I still like Foye at nine.
Number Ten Pick – Seattle Supersonics – Sheldon Williams Duke – One of the poster children for staying in school, Williams is an NBA ready big man. The Sonics need Williams mostly because of his offense; Danny Fortson can’t score. It may be unrealistic to have 2 Dukies and 2 Huskies in the top ten, but stranger things have happened.
Number Eleven Pick – Orlando Magic – Ronnie Brewer – Brewer draws many parallels to Scottie Pippen. They are both from Arkansas and are both point forwards. Pippen had a much better shot than Brewer has. With Brewer, Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson the Magic may have the nucleus of a playoff team next year.
Number Twelve Pick – New Orleans Hornets – Patrick O’Bryant Bradley – This 20 year old center has a ton of upside and already knows what it’s like to carry a team, he did that in last year’s NCAA tournament. He is long and can run the floor. O’Bryant fills a big need for a big man in New Orleans.
Number Thirteen Pick – Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers – Shawne Williams Memphis – It took me the longest to come up with who the Sixers would take here. I could see them going in so many different directions. They could do any of these options: taking Williams, Hilton Armstrong, Cedric Simmons or Rajon Rondo. Or they could trade the pick.
Number Fourteen Pick – Utah Jazz – Mouhamed Sene Saer Senegal – The Jazz have very good foreign scouts (just look at Andrei Kirilenko). They may know what they’re doing here. Then again, they passed on Chris Paul for Deron Williams. I have never seen this guy play, very few have. I have no idea whether this kid will be good or not.
Number Fifteen Pick – New Orleans Hornets – Rodney Carney Memphis – He has great athleticism and can dunk with the best of them. Sound familiar? Yeah, Carney is a lot like Hornet guard JR Smith. Neither play good defense, but both are very capable of it but refuse to do so. It doesn’t make much sense for them, but supposedly they really like Carney here.
Number Sixteen Pick – Chicago Bulls – Thabo Sefolosha Switzerland – I don’t know jack about this guy, but the Bulls really like him. As you can see, I haven’t seen any of the foreign players play, ever.
Number Seventeen Pick – Indiana Pacers – Rajon Rondo Kentucky – Pacer coach Rick Carlisle is fed up with Jamaal Tinsley and they need some new blood in Indiana. Rondo will be a terrific fit with other young players like Danny Granger and, if they keep him, Jermaine O’Neal. Larry Bird has been pretty good in the draft and he will do a back flip if Rondo is still there at 17.
Number Eighteen Pick – Washington Wizards – Hilton Armstrong UCONN – They need defense badly, they don’t play any at all (did you see them in the playoffs?). Anyway Armstrong will give that to them and an interior presence better than Brandon Haywood. A four-year player who is the best defensive big man in the draft beside Sheldon Williams, Armstrong may have an immediate impact.
Number Nineteen Pick – Sacramento Kings – Alexander Johnson FSU – He brings a lot of the same things that Armstrong does. The Kings are worried about their lack of an interior presence on defense as well as offense. They could also use an outside scorer, but Johnson is a good fit.
Number Twenty Pick – New York Knicks – Cedric Simmons NC State – He is projected to go a lot higher than this, but I have him slipping because he is very young and raw. The upside is there, but still he’s young and raw. I haven’t heard much about him until this week, so how good can he be? Honestly the Knicks are taking him, how good can he be?
Number Twenty-One Pick – Phoenix Suns – Sergio Rodriguez Spain – Rodriguez is a speedy point guard, much like the Suns Leandro Barbosa. Since they won’t have the cap space to re-sign Barbosa in a year, Rodriguez is the Barbosa in waiting.
Number Twenty-Two Pick – New Jersey Nets – Kyle Lowry Villanova – The Nets have two picks and are trying to package them for a lottery pick, so there is a distinct possibility that this pick will be made by another team. Lowry may be a good fit for the Nets; he can run the floor and can shoot. Working with Jason Kidd will help his development if he gets to New Jersey.
Number Twenty-Three Pick – New Jersey Nets – PJ Tucker Texas – I doubt they will make this pick at all, but if they do Tucker is a serious possibility.
Number Twenty-Four Pick – Memphis Grizzlies – Guillermo Diaz Miami – Diaz is a young player, only had two years in college. The Grizzlies will have the time to wait for him to develop. He is a terrific combo guard, with highflying capabilities. He can make plays, but only when the ball is in his hands.
Number Twenty-Five Pick – Cleveland Cavaliers – Jordan Farmar UCLA – Eric Snow has peaked as a point guard and Farmar will be an okay fit for the LeBrons, er, the Cavs. LeBron James will handle the ball more and bring out a weakness of Farmar’s (not a great shooter).
Number Twenty-Six Pick – Los Angeles Lakers – Shannon Brown MSU – When Brown is drafted, I will stand and applaud like a proud father. I may even shed a tear. I rooted for Shannon to go to the NBA because I wanted what’s best for him, even though it would help my Spartans this year if he stays. Shannon is a great player and an even better person; he deserves the best. Playing with Kobe will be awesome for Brown’s development. I think he could beat out Smush Parker for the staring point guard job in LA too.
Number Twenty-Seven Pick – Phoenix Suns – Quincy Douby Rutgers – Douby has a great shot, which fits perfectly for this system. He will have an immediate impact.
Number Twenty-Eight Pick – Dallas Mavericks – Maurice Ager MSU – I could see the Suns taking Ager over Douby and then the Mavs taking Douby here, but either way both teams will end up with guys who play very little defense and unlimited range with their jumpers.
Number Twenty-Nine Pick – New York Knicks – Josh Boone UCONN – Rumors say that they promised Boone to take him here. He’s not good; I don’t know why they would do that. Oh sorry, I didn’t see you there Isiah.
Number Thirty Pick – Portland Trail Blazers – Aaron Gray PITT – Don’t look at it as the last pick in the first round, look at it as the first pick in the second round.
Well, that’s the first round. I could do the second round, but nobody cares and I have a life. One prediction on the second round: Daniel Horton won’t be drafted.
Please tell me that you didn’t think Michael Jordan was done. Please tell me that you didn’t think that MJ would never come back to the game that made him the icon that he is. Please tell me you didn’t avoid participating in the office pool for the day that MJ would be back. Please tell me that you didn’t think MJ would stay out for any longer, even though everyone knows what a competitive guy he is. Please tell me you didn’t think that MJ would be content with his new out-of-basketball gambling and cigar smoking lifestyle. Please tell me you knew this was coming, because I sure did.
“I'm thrilled to have my friend, Michael Jordan, join me in my business and sports pursuits,'' Robert Johnson, Charlotte Bobcats majority owner, said in a statement. "I not only respect Michael for his basketball knowledge and expertise, but also for his business skills, particularly in branding and marketing.”
I don’t know how much I really respect MJ’s knowledge of evaluating basketball players, look what he did to the Washington Wizards, but I respect the mystique that Jordan brings everywhere he goes. Plus, I love the pairing of the greatest player of all-time with the founder of BET.
Basketball was once a floundering sport, as odd as that sounds now with attendance numbers and television ratings through the roof. The National Basketball Association needed Michael Jordan, or any player that could be what he was to the NBA, a star. The NBA’s Don, David Stern, built the association around stars and Michael was his brightest one. It’s not even debatable who the best player of all-time is. It’s Jordan, bar none.
And as much as the NBA needed Jordan, he needed basketball more. MJ needs to feed his uber-competitive streak inside him and the only way to do that is by playing at the highest level every night, which is what he did and got his teammates to do as well. The most evident example of Jordan’s effect on his teammates was when he led the Chicago Bulls to 72 wins in a single season.
He needs to be involved in action. Action is what drives MJ; it’s what fuels him. It’s why he was drawn to gambling. It’s why he was drawn to sports in the first place. He is obsessed with the action. It controls him.
During his playing career, it was easy to quench his competitive thirst; he played professional basketball for crying out loud. The obsession with action is also an obsession with winning. It made him work harder than anyone else. It made him want it more than anyone else. It made him the player he was and the person he is. It made him great.
But, like Jay-Z’s last album, it is a gift and a curse. It also drove MJ to gambling on anything and everything under the sun. He will bet on everything from golf to cards to whose luggage comes out of an airport terminal first and everything in between. It’s not a problem for MJ because he can afford it (hello, NIKE), but it was the defining factor in the reasons that MJ decided to prolong his playing career…three times after announcing his ‘retirement.’
That’s why I knew this wouldn’t be the last we’ve seen of the beloved MJ. Even when Sports Center kept running video of Jordan driving his Mercedes out of the Wizard’s practice facility when he decided to stop his involvement in their organization, I knew he would be back. He’s always going to be involved in the NBA, it’s what he spent most of his life doing.
Like a fat man in a buffet line, MJ can never get enough. It’s the same reason Ricky Henderson can’t hang ‘em up and wait five years for his hall-of-fame induction. The reasons that most athletes can’t give up their dreams are extreme ego and addiction to action.
"I'm excited to join Bob, and invest alongside one of the most astute businessmen I know,'' Jordan said. "I am also looking forward to providing my advice, where needed, to Bobcats management in order to put the best possible team on the court.''
I’m looking forward to it too, probably even more than he is. This is pushing me towards getting NBA League Pass next year and watching a ton of Bobcat games. Think of the astonishing possibilities that could happen. MJ could come down to the locker room at halftime of a big game and give the ‘Cats the ‘special stuff’ (which was just water, he was giving them a confidence booster) from Space Jam like he did to the Looney Tunes. Improbable, but there’s a better chance of that happening now that MJ’s back. Maybe MJ will find a spot in the organization for his enforcer back in Chicago, Charles Oakley. Yeah, if that happens I will defiantly get the League Pass.
Anyway the fact is: MJ is back and, because he is so great for the game, hopefully for good.
Hey, I'm Nick Shlain. I'm a young sportswriter. Check out my other columns at sportsinferno .com, it's a Detroit based site with a message board and a front page for articles. The site is run by Mike Valenti (radio host) and Terry Foster (radio host and columnist for the Detroit News).
I was born in New York and now live in Detroit. I root for the Yankees, Michigan State Spartans, Giants, and if the Knicks could fire Isiah Thomas then I might be able to take them seriously. Although I don't live there anymore I can still get the sense of NY Sports by listening to Mike and the Mad Dog on the online stream.
