It's that time of week again. Time to call out those idiots, miscreants, malcontents, and ingrates for their idiocy, arrogance, dumb-A$$ery, and general stupidity. The lovely young lady will take your requests and call them forward. Simple as that!
NFL
San Francisco 49ers: OMG, what the HELL was THAT? FIVE turnovers? It was a miracle you didn't get run out of Candlestick Park! If it wasn't for the Arizona Cardinals' offensive ineptitude, you would have. And your defense bailed the offense's sorry #### out. If it wasn't for Frank Gore, it would REALLY be putrid. I expected a competitive game. Not a good way to start by getting thrown under the Bus.
Seattle Seahawks: what was that allowing a TD on a fake FG? Then on the ensuing kickoff fumbling the ball away? Then on the very next play allowing ANOTHER TD? If this is any indication, it's going to be a VERY long year in the Pacific Northwest. And it starts by throwing the Seahawks under the Bus.
St. Louis Rams: keeping up with the theme of the NFC Worst West, I offer as Exhibit 3, the St. Louis Lambs Rams. Granted, the Eagles are a good team, but I expected a better effort. Both Donovan McNabb AND Kevin Kolb passed on the Lambs Rams at will. I'll state the obvious: the NFC Worst West is the WORST division in the NFL. The Lambs Rams get thrown under the Bus for their lack of effort and their suckiness, at least this week.
Detroit Lions: throughout preseason, this team was hyped as a possible playoff contender. Well, if you were a TRUE playoff contender, you wouldn't be losing have lost to the Atlanta Falcons! And to a rookie QB making his FIRST NFL start! And you wouldn't have let Michael Turner gash you for 220 yards rushing. New season, same old Lions. See the Lions defense. See Michael Turner. See Michael Turner gash the Lions defense for 220 yards rushing (a franchise record). See the Lions get thrown under the Bus.
Carolina Panthers' haters: this is to all those that said the Panthers would be 6-10, or worse, like finish LAST in the NFC South (you people KNOW who you are). I EXPECTED the Panthers to compete, but like just about everyone else, I expected the Chargers to win. Well, the Panthers are 1-0 after beating one of the BEST teams in the AFC, and on the road, no less. Suddenly, the game against Chicago will be very tough next week. I throw all you Panthers haters under the Bus, and deprive you of your supply of Panther-flavored Haterade.
NBA
Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur: the two ex-Jayhawks teammates were kicked out of an NBA rookie transition program for deciding to get high on the hippie lettuce and having women in their room and getting caught. Save that for the regular season. The NBA kicked them out of the program and now they have to repeat the program next year. But in the meantime, the wannabe hippies get thrown under the Bus.
MLB
St. Louis Cardinals: their bullpen failed to hold leads TWICE against Arizona. I thought the Mets’ bullpen was bad; the Cardinals bullpen is 20 times WORSE. This is why they’ll be watching the playoffs from home after the season is over. They had a GOLDEN opportunity to get back into the playoff hunt. Now it’s all but over. With a sweep, they would have made the NL Central a tight race. Now the opportunity is lost. Now they get thrown under the Bus.
Those are my nominations for the week. Feel free to come in with yours!
It is that time of the week where you, Joe Six-Pack Fan, can call out those idiots, malcontents, ingrates, and general all around bad guys for their behavior that so #### you off. Looking around the world of sports, there are PLENTY of sports figures that have earned the dubious distinction of being thrown Under The Bus this week. I have some sports personalities.
NASCAR
Juan Pablo Montoya: his tete-a-tete with Kyle Busch earned him a trip to NASCAR's equivalent of the principal's office, aka The Big Red Hauler. (Not to be confused with Big Red, one of JPM's sponsors) I will come correct on putting Kyle Busch in the Ugly category of an earlier blog, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I will make up for it by throwing JPM Under The Bus.
Tony Stewart's Pit Crew: why on earth did they change two tires when they knew that rain was coming on the horizon? Especially when gas only was working. The crew cost Smoke a possible win. And as a result, Zippy and Company get thrown Under The Bus.
Jamie McMurray: I hate to do this to such a good guy, but I must. It appeared he had plenty of room to go around Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as Junior was entering the pits for his final pit stop. J-Mac plowed into him, tearing up his own vehicle and as he slid to the bottom of the track, he clipped his teammate David Ragan. Ragan lost control and hit the wall, ending HIS day. For being inattentive at an inopportune time, J-Mac goes Under The Bus.
NBA
Shaq: he dissed Kobe Bryant in a freestyle rap at a recent outing at a nightclub in New York City. The Big Chicken#### did this after last week's Who Would You Throw Under The Bus? was posted. Shaq's not escaping. Shaq, where were you when the Finals were being played? WATCHING IT ON TV, like millions of other Americans. Where was Kobe? PLAYING in the Finals. Shaq, grow the hell up. You won a ring without Kobe; give it a rest already. As if Kobe doesn't need any more motivation, this will fuel his fire even more to win a title without you. Shaq, and in the meantime, you get thrown Under The Bus.
Memphis Grizzlies: yes, you got O.J. Mayo. But you paid a pretty steep price to get him. You gave up Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and another player. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves improved themselves by getting a fundamentally sound player in Love, a sharpshooter in Miller, and a couple of other serviceable bigs that will add depth to the Wolves' bench. When you allow Kevin McHale to fleece you, it will get you thrown Under The Bus every single time.
NFL
New York Giants: they got rid of the Hefty Lefty, Jared Lorenzen. They got rid of the WRONG QB. They should have got rid of Anthony Wright. For getting rid of the wrong QB, the G-men get thrown Under The Bus.
Houston Texans: it's going to take me a VERY long time to be able to root for this team again. They so screwed up David Carr while he was there he's shot mentally. They NEVER gave him a decent running game and a decent O-line while he was there. They allowed him to be a human pinata. Then AFTER they unceremoniously dump him in favor of Matt Schaub, they FINALLY work on building up a running game and an O-line. If the football gods are listening, the Texans won't win a Super Bowl while Robert McNair owns the team. In the meantime, the Texans get thrown Under The Bus.
MLB
Houston Astros: for allowing the Shawn Chacon/Ed Wade drama to reach new heights. This is one of the most dysfunctional teams in MLB. Drayton McLane needs to sell this team to a local group that WANTS to win. Chacon gets thrown Under The Bus for attacking Wade physically for refusing his orders/requests. Wade gets thrown Under The Bus for escalating the incident. Who's next?
TENNIS
Justin Gimelstob: he called Anna Kournikova a b***h and a #### and said some sexually charged remarks towards her involving his brother. Kournikova, to her credit, is taking the high road. Gimelstob, to his credit, took full responsibility for his remarks and apologized. However, you can't unring that bell. For his egregious lapse in judgment and for putting both feet in his mouth, Gimelstob gets thrown Under The Bus.
Ana Ivanovic: she lost early at Wimbledon. There goes LOTS of guys' reasons to watch Wimbledon in the first place. She's HOT. It wouldn't be so bad if she weren't the #1 seed. But she's the top seed and to lose in the second round IS reason to be thrown Under The Bus.
Those are my nominees for this week. Feel free to come on in with yours!
Congratulations to the Boston Celtics in winning the Eastern Conference championship. Give it up for the C's. Boston defeated Detroit 89-81 in Game 6, eliminating the Pistons.
Now we have our dream NBA Finals matchup: Lakers-Celtics. Awaken the ghosts of Lakers and Celtics past! You couldn't ask for a better matchup. The best team in the East against the best team in the West.
Boston showed heart in winning at Detroit, in a hostile environment, and doing what they needed to do. They showed me that they CAN win on the road. Winning two games in Detroit is no small feat.
As many of you know, I was openly jonesing for Lakers-Celtics. Now it's here!! I CAN'T WAIT FOR GAME ONE ON THURSDAY!!
While Boston has proven they CAN win on the road, beating the Lakers at the Staples Center is a WHOLE lot different than beating Detroit. The Lakers' last loss at home was an inexplicable one: to the Memphis Grizzlies, of all teams! The Lakers are undefeated at home in the playoffs.
I am from Central California. I am passionate about sports, particularly the NFL and NASCAR. My favorite teams are: Panthers (NFL), Lakers (NBA), Flyers (NHL), and Dodgers (MLB). I am also a Kevin Harvick fan in NASCAR. I am a Fresno State honk. (I'll admit it!) And I am also a fan of MMA. Jackie Robinson to this day represents what is right about baseball. I also enjoy discussing the relevant (and sometimes irrelevant) issues of the day pertaining to sports. I will never understand why televised poker is so popular. Who wants to see a bunch of people sitting around a table, muttering to themselves? I do my best to keep politics out of my sports discussions. That is why I recently created a nonsports blog, cencalscribe. blogspot.com. That is where I post my nonsports topics.