By: Kevin Cottrell Jr

4^th and Long…When the names Adam “Pacman” Jones, Plaxico Burress and Donte Stallworth come to mind, many immediately think “these guys had it all playing in the NFL yet lost it with one bad decision. For those of you who don’t know life is simply like a game of football. We must game plan our approach to every opponent (from health to annoying co-workers) because life is all about strategy. The entire week we’ve focused on Michael Vick, who will be approaching a 4^th and Long situation in relation to his career. This will be his last chance and success for him is a long shot! As we sit back as fans and admire these players for their athleticism and accomplishments, use their missteps as inspiration for you to continue doing what’s right. And remember like football, in the game of life if you’re not careful to read the defense you’ll never reach the End zone!

I’M JUST SAYING…I know its been a while since I last expressed my thoughts on a Thursday but there are a few topics surrounding the sporting world that leaves me scratching my head. The first being one LeBron James. Rumors swirled that the King was crowned by a college kid who had the emeralds to challenge LeBron mid air at his on camp. The folk lore led us all to believe that Nike officials confiscated all tapes involved to protect the King from peasant embarrassed but this is 2009 not 1209! And if you haven’t known by now the true King is “Big Brother” so before I give my thoughts on the King sized dunk you take a look and **** your own thoughts…

 ebaumnation.com/2009/07/22/jordan-crawfo...

To the entire King apologist pleaaaaaase understand that YES he got dunked on! And YES they did try to hide the tape because if not this could have easily been turned into a Don’t Think “JUST DO IT” commercial! But after he showed poor sportsmanship against Orlando its tough to put out yet another character fire of his. So LeBron take it like a man and remember you’ve crowned your opponents on a nightly basis and all you do is walk away with a smile…but you know what they say? “The same thing that makes you smile…makes you cry!”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LadJgjqaaM

The second mind-boggling Sports story also resides in the NBA and focuses on another active legend…Allen Iverson! For those of you that only know the Denver/Detroit A.I. you’re reading the wrong blog! For everyone else here’s a refresher: Allen Iverson a.k.a A.I. aka “The Answer” aka “The Biggest Little Man of All-Time” is #16 on the All-Time Scoring List (23, 983 points) second active leader to Shaq and one spot ahead of Kobe (they were both drafted in ’96). With that said how is it that at age 34 Iverson can barely get a look from a team yet Steve Nash (also age 34 and drafted in ’96) can redeem a 2-year extension worth $22 Million! Whereas Iverson can barely attract the mid-level exception at a bit over $5 Million per?? Look I understand A.I. has a “character flaw” label or that he says “he refuses to come off the bench” but the guy has scored more points than many of us have put miles on a car!! Think about that for a second? It’s clear that A.I. is beginning to be black balled from the NBA but remember this was the same guy to save the NBA when Michael Jordan took Flight out of the league. Question, who was first to rock braids in the NBA? The Answer. Question, who was first to popularize tattoos? The Answer. Final question, who has every idiot in the league wearing a “shooting sleeve” on their elbow when even Dwight Howard admitted he’s doing so because “it looks cool”? You know the Answer! So let’s be more respectable of the true NBA Trendsetter the biggest lil man in the L, the Answer to all the questions and the man who can score from anywhere in the arena! I’m sorry Steve aka Mr. 2-time MVP aka never played a game in June aka my back always hurt aka I wish Coach D’Antoni was here so I could flourish. Quick Question if any of you could do the ’96 draft over and you had a choice between Allen Iverson (who was #1 pick by the way) and Steve Nash would you reconsider the original choice by Philly? Wait, I’m sure I know your ANSWER!

REAL FUN: 12-7

All week long we’ve counted down the various possibilities of Michael Vick’s NFL Final Destinations. From 32-13 I’m pretty sure he won’t be wearing there practices jerseys but this next set of teams is as unpredictable as any other in the L.

12. Broncos: This time last year their “Franchise QB” Jay Cutler was gearing up to post up 4,000+ passing yards and earning his first Pro Bowl selection. But yet they’ll now settle with Kyle Orton, a QB that hasn’t thrown over 4,000 yards in his career! Sure the Broncos could quite frankly be in the hunt for the services of #7 but if it’s too good to be true, it normally is.

11. Buccaneers: At one point this team had about 5 quarterbacks in camp last season so now that they have 3 who’s to say they couldn’t add one? I mean none of the QB’s are bonified #1s they took a chance on Josh Freeman (Kansas State) worst case scenario they obtain a dynamic player in Vick that is very familiar with the NFC South. Right? Not quite the days of Jon Gruden experiments are over. He’ll be up in the Monday Night Football booths this season and Vick can only hope to be playing in one this season.

10. Raiders: Many of you may be surprised at the Raiders position on my list but here me out. Al Davis is always the wild card of the league but with a hefty amount of money invested in JaMarcus Russell coupled by the signing of Jeff Garcia to push the youngster I just don’t see Al showing himself up by adding another QB to mess with the youthful mind of JaMarcus. However, if Vick is still out there after camps have begun and no one shows interest I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the black hole.

9. Jaguars: The Jags may be one of the sleepers because they have a “decent/solid” quarterback in David Garrard but since they’ve lose Fred Taylor (a staple with the Franchise) and loss Matt Jones (they’re best receiver) they could use some explosiveness and another attraction to help sell tickets. However, something tells me they won’t be a player in the Vick-stakes. The coach is old school and with Matt Jones being dismissed for violation his probation exchanging one troubled player for another never seems to work out.

8. Texans: The Texans have been on the “verge” of playoff status for a while now. Many questioned their move to select DE Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush. Fast forward a few years and we all know why. Matt Schaub (former Vick backup) has made a great tandem with wide out Andre Johnson but the problem is Matt can’t seem to stay healthy. Maybe Houston looks at Vick like the Reggie Bush they never had? But then again how weird would it be for Vick to backup…. his backup? I can’t see it happening but wouldn’t be surprised if they expressed interest.

7. Redskins: Now you can tell we are getting close to those really interested! Daniel Snyder, owner of the Redskins, would stop at nothing to put his team in position to win. Even if that meant risking a PR disaster in signing Vick. Keep in mind that the owner was shopping his QB all spring long until the Bears snuck in and grabbed Cutler from Denver. With Campbell under contract for only a year I wouldn’t at all be surprised at the signing of Vick to push Jason this season. Then there’s why I don’t see him signing Mike. He’d be too close to home! In fact, I’m sure the area Mike grew up in cheered the Redskins! (Okay I’m not totally sure but VA borders DC/Maryland) Vick would be too close to his boys from Newport News and I’m sure his plan is to get as far away from them as possible.

So if you took time to look over the list from 32-7 I’m sure you could figure out the final 6 by now…but will your order match mine? Will your reasons be the same? And will the #1 team I select surface to become the perfect match? Check back Friday for the Final results!

III. SAY WHAT!!! (Just My Thoughts)

The new phenomenon in sports is Twitter. It seems as if every athlete wants us to know “What they’re doing” from what they are eating, what jewelry they just bought to their favorite movie or cd. But my question is why isn’t anyone “tweeting” about shooting 1000 free throws? Or about working on there ball-handling? Or improving their jump shot? Take it from a fan; the last thing we want to know is how you spend your riches! Because we’ve invested a lot into your jump shot so we need your ball handling down pat and if now when you’re fouled we want to see those free throws made in the clutch!

I know Carlos Boozer wants out of Utah but one week he said he’d love to play in Chicago the next it was Miami. But what if both said they didn’t want him?

Prior to the Lakers winning the Finals, Lamar Odom seemed to NEVER show up in big moments. I mean sure he took a lesser role coming off the bench and he put up his 11 points 8 reb (down from 14-10 in the previous year) but I find it interesting that he seems to believe he’s worth more than the $8-9Million/year offer from L.A. It’s funny because it’s the perfect position for the soft big man. The last time a player acted like this was Shawn Marion and you see where that got him…

Lastly, LeBron James is widely considered the best player in the NBA by fellow players, but why is it that he couldn’t lure a big free agent?? See “I’m Just Saying”