Channing Fucking Frye!!!!

Well as you can tell by this headline, I am not pleased with Isaiah “El Savior” Thomas, but we will get to that in due time. Let’s get it kicked off with this evening’s diary.

5:45- Bob Ryan is the first guy to mention upside potential, he was talking of Marvin Williams and how he has the best upside potential.

7:07- Dickie V has spoken for the first time and I do not want him dead yet. He also hasn’t mentioned JJ Reddick, I doubt he can go the whole night like this.

7:09- Mark Jones is asking Andrew Bogut about his eyesite, and if that is a potential drawback to his NBA career. Is he serious? The guy wears contact lens’s, half the guys in the league have contacts.

7:36- The Bucks have selected Bogut. It is the correct pick and the expected pick. History has been made by the University of Utah, having the #1 overall pick in the NFL and NBA draft. That is really impressive.

7:42- Marvin Williams was taken second overall. Not sure what the Hawks are doing stockpiling small forwards. But Williams is the most talented guy out there. I got a chance to meet him last weekend, I was cruising through North Carolina and decided to stop at Chapel Hill to check out the Dean Dome. I went inside and saw some guys working out and got chance to spend about 15 minutes chatting with Marvin Williams. He seems like a genuinely nice guy and I am happy for him and will be rooting for him, that is if they let the Hawks play in the NBA next year.

7:41- The Jazz traded up to the #3 pick so they could get Deron Williams. They did so because Williams is almost white, and his babie’s momma is white. And lord knows they need a white Point Guard in Utah. That is why they traded away Carlos Arroyo, he was not white enough. Happy day for Bill Pipher & his family, this is the highest ever pick for a Fightin Illini player, and Kendall Gill won his first professional boxing match this weekend.

This draft is so much faster and cooler than the NFL draft. 5 minutes between picks is an eternity in itself, unlike the NFL 15 minute time limit.

7:53- Chris Paul is selected 4th overall by the Hornets. It was so cool to watch Paul brother hug Skip Prosser. I love watching old white men giving out brother hugs.

7:58- Stephen A. Smith just busted out the line of the night, he said the Hornets could have chosen Winnie the Pooh and it would be an upgrade from last year’s team.
7:59- Analyst’s question picking Raymond Felton this high in the draft, but I feel this is a great fit for the Bobcats. They have no backcourt to speak off, and Felton is a local product so it may also help sell some tickets.

8:06- The first high schooler to go is Martell Webster. What else would the Trailblazers do? This franchise is a disaster, somebody needs to just disband this team. John Nash is the first guy to put his hat in the running for the “Scott Layden Worst GM in the World Award.”

8:12- The Raptors select Charlie Villanueva one pick before the Knicks. Damn I am pissed off, I think Villanueva is going to be a star. I watched him in high school and loved him, and he was seasoned under Jim Calhoun who produce’s quality NBA players. Though the Raptors do have Chris Bosh, maybe they think Bosh can be more of a 5 man and Villanueva at the 4.

8:18- And the hit’s just keep on comin!!! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. Channing Fucking Frye. This guy fucking blows, he was mediocre for 4 years in college. Every year he was supposed to step up and be an All American and that never happened. Isaiah Thomas has officially submitted his application for the “Scott Layden Worst GM in the World Award.” Why do I continue to root for this collection of bums. This organization would have to be shitty and that would be an improvement from where they are.

8:25- Mark Thompson is happy, Ike Diogu goes to Golden State to help with them rebounding. He loves Ike Diogu more than this guy’s parents. He goes to a team that needs rebounding, this is a lot higher than most people had him.

8:31- Mitch Kupchak has handed in his resignation officially after picking Andrew Bynum. Kupchak is now in the running this year for the “Scott Layden Worst GM in the World Award.”

8:37- Thank god, someone picked a random foreign dude. Frans Vazquez goes to the miserable abyss known as the Orlando Magic. This franchise was once on the fast track to being the next great franchise in sports, that was a long time ago. Vazquez averaged 9 ppg in his Spanish league last year, and Fran Frischilla just talked about that as a positive.

8:44- the Clippers select Yuraslav Koralev from Russia. Mike Tirico just broke off a super stat, with 18 lottery picks they have had one All Star. Most likely Koralev will not be in the league for another 2-3 years. I rarely understand these picks, one year I fell in love with the Foreigners, but then the Knicks chose Maciej Lampe, so my love of the foreigner’s quickly went the way of the Dodo bird.

8:50- Sean May goes to Charlotte, joining teammate Raymond Felton. I also had a chance to meet Sean May while in Chapel Hill and he was on his way to Charlotte to go for another workout. He said Bernie Bickerstaff just wanted to reaffirm that they wanted to choose him with the #13 pick. Charlotte is doing some nice things here.

8:55- Rashaad McCants goes to the Timberwolves. This guy is a bust waiting to happen. I bet he has more arrests than 30 point games next season. Kevin Garnett will be asking Rex Chapman to please bring back Latrell Sprewell or Stephon Marbury rather than play with McCants.

9:02- Antoine Wright to NJ. Good pick for the Nets, to go in the back court with Vince and Ason.

9:08 Joey Graham goes to the Raptors, I am not sure about this pick, I just don’t like Graham for some reason, of course Darby will tell me what a super athlete he is having a chance to see him up close all season.

9:12- I have seen that stupid Coach K Commercial for the 5th time tonight.

9:13- Danny Granger to Pacers. That is a very good fit

9:17- Gerald Greene to Boston, they love high school guys. Al Jefferson worked out pretty good last year and Kendrick Perkins the year before, Greene will not be relied on to play big minutes early

9:24- Hakim Warrick goes to the Memphis Grizzlies. What a surprise, Jerry West has decided to go with a superb athlete. They do this every year, they just draft great athletes and try and make them players. To me that is not that bad a strategy. He should be a pretty good player in the league for a long time.

Now we start to get to sleeper guys and some random foreign dudes. This is the time where teams have to draft position specific to their needs and what kind of player can fit the system that they play.

9:32- My guy Francisco Garcia is falling faster than Aaron Rodgers. I love this guy, all he does is play his balls off every second of the game and wins!!

9:34- Faux Pas of the millennium, Jerry West just said Warrick had an outstanding career up there at Princeton.

I want Stuart Scott dead, he just said something ridiculously stupid. I just hate him.

9:38- The Phoenix Suns have just made the biggest leap of faith in the draft by taking Nate Robinson. He was predicted as a mid second round pick. They could have taken someone that may help them get a rebound or two, or play some interior defense. Hold the phone, Ric Bucher just said that this is part of the Richardson for Thomas deal. So now we get another undersized PG, Greg Anthony just said it best, what direction is this Knicks franchise headed in, I have been wondering that for years. Here is my solution, let Greg Anthony run the team. He is about 400 times more intelligent that Isaiah Thomas and he can’t possibly do a worse job than Thomas or his predecessor Scott Layden.

9:45- Everyone is raving about the Nuggets draft by getting Jarrett Jack and Julius Hodge, both these guys suck ass. Denver blows too, I think those are both poor picks, that is my opinion, Julius Hodge is the worst most over hyped player ever.

9:50- Finally Garcia goes to the Kings. Best pick in the last hour.

9:54- Luther Head to the Rockets is a great fit. The Rockets could use some help in the backcourt and Head can play both Guard spots.

9:59- Johan Petro to the Sonics. Good pick, along the lines of drafting Robert Swift last year, oh wait that was a bad pick. Random foreign dude time, I love This Game.

10:06- Jason Maxiel to the Pistons is again a good system pick

10:11- Linus Kleiza goes to the Trailblazers. Again John Nash makes what could only be referred to as a Jordan-Esque pick. And I mean Jordan the GM who drafted superstars Kwame Brown, Calvin Booth, Rod Grizzard, and Juan Dixon.

10:17- The Spurs pick some foreign dude. Ian Mahinmi is a tough name to pronounce, nothing like watching that little weasly jew David Stern smirk and just mangle the poor guys name. I must admit I have never read or heard anything about this guy, but how would someone question the Spurs. In 1999 with the second to last pick in the draft they chose some guy named Emmanuel Ginobili.

10:23- Oft injured Wayne Simien goes to Pat Riley and the Miami Heat.

Time to get ready to hang myself. At least we can’t draft John Thomas, Maciej Lampe, John Wallace, Monty Williams, Fredric Weis, Jerrod Mustaff or Channing Frye again

10:29- Thank god another undersized power forward, David Lee. Wait a minute, I actually kind of like this pick. Lee plays the game relentlessly and is a terrific rebounder and passer. His offensive skills are limited mostly to the paint, but he understands that, he does not think he is a jump shooter. He was the MVP of the Chicago Pre-Draft Camp and turned heads with his hard work and athleticism. I think he can actually contribute, unlike Channing Fucking Frye.

The only cool thing about the Second Round is the fact that the same losers stay for the entire draft and cheer anytime Russ Granick says anything. It is like watching the same five guys who stay at the office Christmas party till the very end every year, so they can keep eating the free food and free drinks. The second round is filled with more random dudes that even Jay Bilas has nothing to say about. A few picks that stood out where Lawrence Roberts to Seattle, Travis Deiner to Orlando could help, and the Lakers second round of Ronny Turiaf & Von Wafer could help that team. And lastly I like Ryan Gomes going to Boston. They need some help scoring on the interior and that is exactly what Gomes does. All in all it was a fun night, we laughed we cried and we all will remember that moment when Hall of Famer Channing Fucking Frye was drafted. Somebody kill me please.

Getting Warmed Up

As I type this post the 2005 NBA Draft is only a few hours away. And outside of the Bogut and Williams family, nobody has a big hard on than me. I have no idea why I love it so much, but I have watched every second of the last 10 or so drafts. Most of them are horribly disappointing and guys never wind up with the team that drafted them. The NBA trades more draft rights than Larry Brown coaching stops. All that happens is over hyped and under scouted foreigners and high schoolers get picked, and Dick Vitale will do an interview raving about the new proposed age limit, Tim Duncan staying fours years in college, and how he & JJ Reddick just got back from the Mayo Clinic and have figured out a way for them to conceive a child together. Oh boy, this is gone be a great night.

Before we go any further we need to of course talk about the coat hanger abortion that is the Isaiah Thomas led New York Knicks. Now Danny and Martin, this is what an actual terrible franchise looks like (of course being in Blue & Orange I figured you Met fans would already know that, Dan Filowitz don’t laugh at Mets fans pain, there is a Rich Kotite joking coming around the bend). It still appears that the Kurt Thomas for Quentin Richardson trade will happen. That will give the Knicks a third malcontent who wants to shoot every possession in their backcourt. Good job Isaiah, while you are at why don’t you draft another 6’7 Power Forward, the Knicks need that like Jet fan’s need another season of Rich Kotite coaching their squad. It seems as if the Knicks are going to draft Channing Frye or Andrew Bynum. These guys combined don’t make a good player. Frye is softer than former Heavyweight Champ Frank Bruno. And Bynum is a project to say the least. He most likely would have come off the bench for UConn next year, but alas in Isaiah we Trust.

Now we get to some players I like and players I dislike.

Raymond Felton. I love the heart this guy has. He has won Championships everywhere he has been. He led tiny Latta High to a state title, various undermanned South Carolina AAU teams to titles, and his overall improvement in all facets of his game was key to North Carolina’s title run. He has improved his shooting every year and he is a ball hawking defender. He has great savvy and leadership, any team will be lucky to have him. Charlotte may pick him at 4, but if he slips past there look for the Lakers at 10, that would be a nice fit.

Charlie Villanueva. This guy is awesome, I had a chance to meet Sean May last week and all he could do was rave about how Villanueva killed he (May) and Wayne Simien in a bunch of workouts they had together. He rebounds as well as anyone in the draft, and Jim Calhoun players always seem to have a great understanding of the game. Villanueva’s inside game improved at UConn, but originally he thought of declaring out of high school and his perimeter skills for a 6’10 guy were unbelievable. Most mock drafts have him projected as the 10 pick to the Lakers, but I see no reason the Knicks shouldn’t draft him, except for the fact that they are the Knicks.
Francisco Garcia. To me he is the most complete player in the draft, but maybe that is some of the problem. GM’s don’t see a great deal of improvement, but where Garcia is now is hard to improve on. He has torched the nets with his long range shooting during workouts. He is versatile and as good a defender as there is in the draft. I think if he falls anywhere past the lottery every GM should be killed. Toronto at pick 7 needs a small forward (but they like high schooler Gerald Greene), Golden State at 9 may give him a look, but other great fits would be Minnesota at 14 and Charlotte who have 2 first round picks.

Other guys I look for in the first round that could be a good fit for certain teams are; Ryan Gomes, Hakim Warrick, Sean May, and Danny Granger.

The second round is harder to predict, but I think there are talented guys who can help in the second round. Florida’s Matt Walsh and David Lee both are hard workers and relentless selfless players. I think they will both play in the league as role players. Travis Deiner and Daniel Ewing are winners, and they can be good additions to playoff teams. Lastly the biggest upside second round players are Randolph Morris, Kennedy Winston, and Brandon Bass. Yes they are all SEC guys, and I am biased.

Here are some guys I just don’t like, all for various reasons. Joey Graham seems to be a tweener. Not sure of he has the overall perimeter skills to compete offensively. Chris Paul is someone I have never liked. All basketball coach’s I know love everything about this guy, but I do not see it. I think his shooting is a big question mark and I am not sure what kind of leader he is. He seems to be very similar to Stephon Marbury to me. Antoine Wright of Texas a & M is another guy who I just seem unfamiliar with. He seems to have shot up the board with great individual workouts, but I like guys who make me notice them during a game, and Wright has never done that to me.

Most of the High School guys seem drastically unprepared. They are so set on going to the league after they have one good AAU Tournament and then they shut themselves down. Lewis Williams out of Georgia had the entire buzz around him last summer, but after a mediocre senior campaign he has lost some luster. Gerald Greene cam on during the seasons as did Monte Ellis, but I am not sure if these guys can contribute right away. And we all know that big guys never pan out early, so it will be a tough climb for Andrew Bynum and Andre Blatch. The one guy who seems NBA Ready is Martell Webster, he is big strong and super athletic.

All in all it should be a fun evening. Be sure to check out tonight’s draft diary tomorrow morning. Remember all the fun we had last year (http://krisdeblasioswisdom.blogspot.com/2004/06/initial-1st-round-thoughts.html#comments and http://krisdeblasioswisdom.blogspot.com/2004/06/official-kris-deblasio-nba-draft.html#comments). Also noticed that I did not mention any foreigner’s. I hate all those greasy headed big nosed leather jacket wearing homos!!!!

Guess What Bitches, I’m Back

Back after my 3 week tour of Europe, Asia, and the Sub-Continent. Okay it was not that luxuries, it was in gyms across the southeastern United States working basketball camps, and getting in a little golf. I have been hounded recently about my lack of posts recently, sorry a-holes sometimes I just don’t have time. In my travels and three week hiatus I have encountered some strange and intriguing things: Strippers, midgets in SHEETZ, over-sized black men, teenage girls locked in a college dorm, and naked 63 year old man whom I call boss (Darby & Mark you know what I’m talking about)!!

All in all it was a much needed break from the day to day grind of entertaining all you schmucks. There are a piss load of posts that will be forth coming this week. July is a great time for me to air all of my grievances, it is my Festivus. You will be wowed with my tails of a high school girls basketball camp, my lust for strip clubs but my always feeling out of place, more movies reviews, the baseball mid season awards and wrap up, the NBA Finals recap (below), and of course my thoughts leading up to, during, and after the NBA draft, the most overrated single event in the history of sports (Included in the Draft coverage is my exclusive interviews with UNC Tar Heel prospects Marvin Williams & Sean May).

Some important things have happened over these three weeks, most notably the up and down season of my beloved New York Yankees and the NBA Finals. As predicted on this site almost a year ago the San Antonio Spurs won their 3rd title in 7 years and 2 out of the last 3. This team knows how to win and there are a few reasons why. First, they have Tim Duncan; this guy is great anyway you slice it. Secondly, is Many Ginobili. They put up a graphic about what this guy has won over the last 5 years and it was unbelievable. All he does is win championships, including 2 NBA titles and a Gold Medal over the last 3 years. I predicted last summer that the signing of Brent Barry would put the Spurs over the top to winning the championship. Now Dan and I have debated the merits of that statement, but I guess what I meant was Barry was the type of player that Spurs always get and need. They have their stars but then they round out their roster with quality veterans, guys like Barry, Robert “Big Shot Bob” Horry, Bruce Bowen, and Nazr Mohammed. Barry played great in certain stretches during the playoffs, and times when he wasn’t doing the job then it was Bob Horry who was doing it. The Spurs understand what kind of team and what kind of players it takes to win. I believe Horry may retire this season and Mohammed is a free agent but the Spurs will find the right guys to give themselves another run at a title.

Now let’s talk about the Yanks. This team still lacks a pitching staff worth a damn. I was against most of their moves all winter long in regards to their pitching staff. Josh knows my feelings on Carl “Big Fly” Pavano (he has only given up 18 HR’s this season) and Mike Mussina has been on a steady decline over the last 3 seasons. Randy Johnson’s ineffectiveness is a mystery; this guy was virtually unhittable last season. And the experiment that needs to end is the Sean Henn project (his ERA is only 11.12 and hitters are batting a poultry .360). Bernie “Double Play” Williams need’s to be put out into the pasture, and he can take Tony Womack, Tino Martinez, and Jorge “Pop Out” Posada. All this being said they are only 5.5 games out. And I know Marty Met and Danny “Hojo” Price will come on here with there Met haters attitudes and slam the Yanks because they won 2 out of 3 in the Bronx this weekend, but last time I checked the Metropolitan’s are firmly in last place. The Yanks are fine, there is still a lot of season to go, and they are showing some signs of life. They will be right there in the thick of things for a quality center fielder at the trade deadline and down the stretch in September.


The NBA Draft Preview Issue will be out late Tuesday afternoon. Be sure to check back before you turn on the draft!!

Breakdown, Go ahead and Give to Me!!

Tonight begins the NBA Finals. Michael Wilbon wrote in his column the other day, “And now, they're (Detroit) going to San Antonio to play another virtually perfect team, a team just like them, one that passes and cuts and shoots and defends and has anti-divas who hate to be credited. The folks who think sports should be pure entertainment and measure exclusively by the Nielsen ratings won't like Detroit vs. San Antonio because there's no glitz, no quote machine like Shaq, no 50 Most Beautiful People cultural crossover star like Wade, nobody to market like The Big Ticket or A.I.” Mr. Wilbon could not be more correct. While the casual NBA fan will not like this series because of its lack of star power, the basketball junkie (I never use the word purist) can’t wait for the two best defensive teams in the league to square off.

PG Match-up- Chauncey Billups vs. Tony Parker. Chauncey is the most clutch player in this series. He was the MVP of last year’s finals and always plays well down the stretch in the 4th quarter. He does not have the pizzazz of Tony Parker but he will not disappear for long stretches like Parker sometimes does. Tony Parker relies on his quickness to get by defenders and create for his teammates. With his lack of production outside though Billups will be able to lay off of him and his driving lanes will be cut down by the team defense of the Pistons. Overall Chauncey is a better player, and a more clutch player.
ADVANTAGE: Detroit Pistons

SG Match-up- Richard Hamilton vs. Bruce Bowen. This should be a fun one to watch. Hamilton is non stop on offense, he is the energizer bunny. He keeps applying pressure to the defense all game long. He can beat you in a variety of ways offensively; he can catch & shoot, he is great off the pull up dribble, and he can get to the tin and finish, and to top it off he is only an 85% FT shooter. However, Bruce Bowen is the stopper. I am not sure how, but this guys just shuts people down, and he frustrates them while doing it. Bowen is great at not allowing players to catch the ball in their comfort areas and I believe he will have an effect on Hamilton. Now on the other side of the court this is the moveable object versus the stoppable force. So if Bowen can get anything offensively it always helps his team.
ADVANTAGE: Push (In honor of the great Nick Bakay, I’m just livin’ the dream Nick!!)

SF Match-up- Tayshaun Prince vs. Manu Ginobili. I am going to try and be fair in this review, even though I do not want to for 2 reasons. One, Tay is my boy from when I was at Kentucky and I hate all foreigners especially greasy, smelly, pseudo-Euro trash ones from South America (there is a great picture on the ESPN.com homepage of Ginobili jumping on Tim Duncan’s back and Duncan has this look like “Hey, get off my back you smelly foreign bastard”). Anyway, Tayshaun can easily exploit Ginobili down on the block, which is where he will have to work because Manu is too good a perimeter defender. Prince needs to attack the glass to help his team out, but he mustn’t lose sight of Manu leaking out on the break. In the open court Ginobili is dangerous and he can finish at the rim as well as anyone in the game. On offense Manu needs to continue his playoff trend of driving the ball and forcing the defense to collapse, and he should be able to do that against the slower Prince. To me this the most intriguing match-up of the series, because both team’s fans probably think they have the advantage.
ADVANTAGE: San Antonio Spurs

PF Match-up- Ben Wallace vs. Tim Duncan. Big Ben versus the Big Fundamental. I hate both those nicknames. First of all Ben Wallace has never given me the time of day, ever. And secondly everyone harps on Duncan’s fundamentals and how good he is, when in reality it is his decision making that is outstanding. Honestly, Kobe Bryant is as sound fundamentally as you get, but he makes poor decisions which skew his effectiveness. Duncan on the other hand takes shots he can make, only dribble’s in situation where he wants lose the ball, box’s out (derr who’s ever heard of that), and makes the smart pass instead of the flashy pass. Ben Wallace on the other hand is the most overrated player in the history of sports. Yeah, he gets some rebounds (to quote another great power forward, Derrick Coleman), “Whoopty, Damn Doo!!” He cannot guard Duncan on any level. Tim Duncan will have a huge series so that finally he can get the recognition he deserves as one of the All Time Greats. 8 seasons in the league, 8 times First Team All-NBA, 7 times All-NBA Defensive Team, 2 time League MVP and 2 Time Finals MVP. Ben Wallace won a rebounding title once and 2 times Defensive player of the year, who would you rather have?
ADVANTAGE: San Antonio Spurs

C Match-up- Nazr Mohammed vs. Rasheed Wallace. Rasheed is supremely more talented and supremely more volatile. But he should have the advantage here. With his ability to stretch the defense because of his shooting range he can help pull Mohammed away from the basket which may free up some room for Billups and Hamilton to get to the basket. But Mohammed, like Popovich’s entire team, excels at efficiency. Mohammed knows where his bread is buttered and that is cleaning up the offensive glass and making himself available when Parker and Ginobili drive. Mohammed will be very effective in this series, and he should be able to contain Wallace and not let him have any huge games.
ADVANTAGE: Push

Bench Match-up- “Big Shot” Bob Horry, Brent Barry, Rasho Nesterovic, Beno Udrih, and maybe Devin Brown & the Big Dog vs. Antonio McDyess, Lindsey Hunter, and maybe Elden Campbell & Carlos Arroyo. Well who the hell do you think has the advantage? Bob Horry, go ahead and leave this guy open late in the game and see what happens. Lindsey Hunter, are you serious? This guy is Julio Franco old. This is the second biggest mismatch of the series (Duncan v Wallace being first).
ADVANTAGE: San Antonio Spurs

Coaching Match-up- Larry Brown vs. Gregg Popovich. Here is what both these guys do, win basketball games. I believe this is the most even match-up in the whole series, sans one thing. That is The Larry Brown Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings. This guy is just an absolute circus, and that will help distract his team. Pop will have his team all focused and ready to go.
ADVANTAGE: San Antonio Spurs

There you have it folks, Da Spurs will take the series in 5 games. Timmy will get his championship without the Admiral and will finally begin to get the respect he so richly deserves.

Two side notes. First I will be addressing this Yankee bashing and Met loving that is happening on this site later this week. I will settle all the debate and comments will be prohibited, because on The Wisdom what I say goes!!
And secondly I was doing some research for the NBA Finals and came across Chauncey Billups career transaction wire. In his 8 NBA seasons he has played for 5 teams and has been traded for: Kenny Anderson, Zan Tabak, Popeye Jones, Zelijko Rebraca, Michael Williams, Chris Gatling, Traiq Abdul-Wahad and signed

The Weekend Wrap (Late Edition)

Things we learned:

- When it comes to guys who are just class, you have to give Shaquille O’Neal his props. What he did to step up and offer help to the family of NBA legend George Mikan was a sincere gesture. He did not do it for any sort of publicity, he did it because he respects the history of his profession and those who paved the way for him and his generations to bask in the riches of the day.

- We learned an awful lot about the Detroit Pistons and the types of guys they have on their team. While I have been a very outspoken critic of Rasheed Wallace and Larry Brown the Pistons are an organization that has character. You always win with character guys. Their backcourt consists of the two biggest clutch players in the game today: Chauncey Billups & Richard Hamilton. All these guys do is play well in big spots and hit big shots. Hamilton has been doing it since his college days and Chauncey is coming of the Finals MVP from last season. In game seven they played all but 6 minutes of the game. And their stats back up their clutch performances; they combined for 40 points, 13 assits and only 3 turnovers, and Billups made key free throws down the stretch.

- People love to hate on New York and especially New York sports but they always copy us!!! Last night during Game 7 they kept showing live video from back in Detroit where fans had gathered at The Palace to watch the game on the big screen. Yeah folks, this started in 1994 when the Rangers were making their Stanley Cup run. In fact, myself and Dan Filowitz (A Great Jew) where at the first of these events during Game 5 of the finals. What made this an even more enjoyable experience was the fact that announcers came on during timeouts and analyzed the game and they Zambonied the Ice between periods. Plus all the proceeds from that night went to charity, you can’t beat that.



Things I disliked:

- The Milkshake!!! Who the hell decided that the milkshake was now just a glob of Ice Cream in a cup? This is the Blizzardafication of the common milkshake. Listen, I love the Blizzard as much as the next guy, but a milkshake is meant to be drank not spooned. I was outside doing some work on Saturday and found myself in a good sweat and decided hey, warm summer evening it is good time for a milkshake. I decided to bypass the common fast food restaurant who normally serve these awful thick shakes and decided to go the Dairy Bar, and Ice Cream joint itself. The lady I ordered the shake from went into the back and appeared to pour milk and syrup in and put the soft ice cream in a mixer, presumably to liquefy the ingredients. But when it was tasted I discovered not an ounce of milk or syrup!! This is bullshit, I am on a quest now to find and actual MILK-SHAKE!!!!

- While the return of the movie review was an excellent part of my weekend, there is the unfortunate return of the awful previews on before the movies. Here is a quick highlight of some of the upcoming films this summer. Some movie where Cole Hauser and some other clowns go explore a cave and there are monsters underneath the Earth, The Cave. Academy Award winner Jaime Foxx has decided to try an action adventure film. He is a Navy pilot and the Navy invents some plane that flies missions on its own, then of course the plane develops a mind of its own and begins to attack the good guys. This thing sounds like a winner. Then there is, The Island!!! This has Scarlett Johansson (her and Jessica Alba are doing there best to morph into the same person, with the blonde hair and everything) stuck on some island where they are robots or something created by the government, and people are trying to escape the Island. This sounds an awful lot like that Jessica Alba TV show, see her and Scarlett may be the same person. Then we begin the thriller/horror previews. George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead) is still trying to recapture his original magic from 35 years ago and has another Living Dead installment. Some new Rob Zombie movie, and to think he gave up his musical career, he was so talented. Then Jodie Foster gets on a plane with her daughter, but sometime in the long flight her daughter magically disappears on the plane. They then discover that her daughter was never actually on the plane, but that she had died 6 days earlier. Didn’t they make this movie last summer with Julianne Moore, remember? Wait didn’t Moore copy Foster in the Hannibal Lecter series? Maybe Moore, Foster, Alba, and Johansson are all the same person, who knows!!!


Things I liked:

- Of course the return of the Friday Movie Matinee. What a day it was, pulling of the three movies at 2 different theatres all before 6 O’clock, now that takes some coordination. Like I said I saw Cinderella Man, Lords of Dogtwon, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. All were pretty good movies, of course for all different types of crowds. I will be reviewing Traveling Pants and Dogtown later this week for everyone.

- My last free weekend before basketball camps start. My next 3 weekends will be filled with annoying children, so this weekend I stepped back and just relaxed. I hit some golf balls, got a little sun, and just watched a little TV. It was enjoyable, which my next few weekends won’t be.


Yo, V.I.P., Let’s kick it……………..THE OLD SCHOOL RAP LYRIC OF THE WEEK:

Get off, hands off, stay off, youre way off
You rookie motherfuckers its the finals not the playoffs
Ill break you up into particles, to small pieces
Because your brain is miniscule
You little fool, come learn the tools of the trade
I made the rules so go to school and get played

Martin, give everyone else a chance to get this one. You are the foremost expert, and I have really decided to try and stump the masses with this one.

Summer Movie Mania, Again

This past Friday I pulled off the unprecedented Triple Matinee!!! That is right, three movies starting before 6 pm all for a discounted price. Finally there were some movies to see, all three were new releases this week. For fear of making you extremely bored in a single post, I will review them separately, also that way it looks like I have material all week long. The three movies were of course; Cinderella Man, Lords of Dogtown, and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I will say that these were all quality movies, yes even the Traveling Pants movie. Today we will look at Cinderella Man.

Now there are some things we have to look at before we get into the teeth of this review. People love to jump on a movie like this and get all “indy” and anti-Hollywood. People like to say oh this is just another picture that is just trying to win as many Oscars as they can. This is just another formulaic movie about a guy down on his luck who becomes a hero. All boxing movies are the same, isn’t this just another Rocky, or Million Dollar Baby, or Raging Bull or even more closely related to the depression era Seabiscuit. No you morons all of those movies were different and special in their own way, just like this movie. All of those excuses are bullshit!! Here are 2 facts I know about this movie, Russell Crowe is an excellent actor and Ron Howard is a quality director, and if these two people get together and make a movie it has a shot at being very good. And that is exactly what this movie is, very good.

What is it you want out of a movie, in order for it to be entertaining and well done? Well first of all we want a good storyline, something compelling that peaks our interest. Okay well that is a no brainer with this film; the story of James J. Braddock is one of the most inspirational of all time. Second you look for quality acting. Again, this one delivers on that angle even before you see the movie, Russell Crowe is one of the most accomplished actors of his day, Paul Giamatti is a quality character actor, and Renee Zelwegger can hold her own in the movies. Even the secondary characters were played by very good actors; Bruce McGill (most famously known as D-Day in Animal House) Patty Considine (In America) and Nicholas Campbell (veteran of over 50 films). Lastly, you look for the filmmakers and whether or not they have good history of making films; well again Imagine Entertainment headed by producer Brian Grazer and Director Ron Howard are known for making well shot, edited and technically solid films. While some may say they do nothing groundbreaking, they also usually don’t do anything wrong. So going into this movie you have a real good chance of getting a quality product.

I was not so sure what to expect when I first saw this film, I knew the story but not so sure how it would be told. Howard does a good job of quickly establishing Braddock’s success during the decade of the roaring 20’s. Then the film quickly took a dark tone and really tried to immerse you in the depression and what families were going through. Russell Crowe did a great job of bringing to life this down on his luck hard working tough Irish Catholic man. During this point of the film when we are exploring the depths of the characters there are so many scenes with intensity and a despair about them which makes your stomach turn. There is the time were Braddock gives his daughter his breakfast and then makes a pre dawn walk down to the docks, with the hopes of getting work. After the families electricity has been shut off Braddock and his wife are about to have dinner (that is laughable to call what they were eating “dinner”) and they clench hands to say grace, and Braddock simply pulls his hands away and says that he is all prayed out. Now for a proud hard working Irish Catholic to not say grace during that time period because he felt in a way that God had let him down was stunning. My grandfather, whom I never knew, started his family during this time much like Braddock. And though his family had very little as well he was devoted to God everyday of his life. Regardless of how tough the times were he went to church and prayed. To see Russell Crowe deliver this performance was unbelievable. His accent, his actions, everything he did was believable.

There were so many other good parts to the movie. The production and set design was beautiful. The old armories and venues where they used to hold these boxing events were classic. They had that gritty feel to them, and the men inside were as tough and hardened by the depression as the venue itself (remember a lot of these same men would go on to lead our country to its greatest military victory only a decade later, including Braddock). Ron Howard went to great lengths to help recreate this entire time period with a great deal of precision. He uses some wonderful long slow pans and pull out shots to help you see the despair that these people were going through. During the final fight scene there were great shots of Father Rorick hooking the radio up so that everyone could listen in the church. Braddock’s kids sneaking into the basement to hear the fight on the radio, and sometimes Howard would allow us to experience the fight this way, rather than just watching what happened.

The other actors gave wonderful performances. Paddy Considine played a working buddy of Braddock’s whose family was also being ripped apart by the depression. He falls into a deep depression fueled by alcohol and eventually runs away from his family, because he cannot provide for them. Considine does not have many scenes but he is wonderful in the few that he has. Bruce McGill plays a shrewd boxing promoter, who seems to be one of the few people still riding high during the depression and he takes away Braddock’s chances of ever boxing again. Paul Giamatti absolutely is the star of the movie. As Braddock’s friend and manager he is superb. He adds a great sense of humor to what is essentially a depressing movie, and he gives a wonderfully caring performance. You can feel his hurt for Braddock throughout the film, and you see how loyal he remains to his friend. During the pre fight and fight scenes Giamatti gives great boxing instruction and plays the part of a boxing corner man very well. I was thinking to myself during one scene, wow Giamatti is like a real manager in there, and then I look at the cut man in Braddock’s corner and it is an old white haired guy who looks familiar. And then I realized it is Angelo Dundee (Muhammed Ali’s manager) one of the great boxing men of all time. The only performance that was below average was that of Renee Zelwegger. Everything she did was just kind of plane. There was a real intensity behind it. I was a little disappointed in her performance, but in no way did it ruin the movie. Plus she had no Jersey accent, that is what really brings Crowe’s performance alive.

The last 30 minutes of this movie was very palpable. You could feel the blood, sweat and tears of everyone before and during the final fight with Max Baer where Braddock impossibly wins the title. Again this isn’t hyperbole, he really was down to nothing, no electricity, no heat, no milk, no job, had to give his kids away, he sold his boxing equipment, he went days without eating, he went on public assistance and yet he some how made this improbable comeback. The hairs on my body were standing for the last hour of this movie. It really is a great story and brought to the silver screen in a very good fashion.

Now I may be overrating this movie. To me, as noted earlier with the story about my grandfather, this movie is intensely personal to me. First, my other set of grandparents lived in apartment building on the northern side of James J. Braddock Park in North Bergen New Jersey. My aunt’s and uncle’s and scores of relatives on my mother’s side grew up knowing Jim Braddock and his children. They were all poor Irish immigrants fighting for survival in the suburbs of New York City. His family’s story could very well be that of Willie and Winnie Mahon (my grandparents). My relatives knew this guy, listened to his fights on the radio. These very same people whom he “inspired” in the movie are relatives of mine.

I saw this movie a second time to make sure I did not miss anything or over or underrate anything. And I didn’t. We are going to start a ratings system, out of 10, that way you get more of a scale, increases go up .5 points.

9 out of 10

The Daily Nooner

Ladies and gentlemen I apologize for my tardiness in posting this week. I was on holiday during this long weekend, enjoying some time at the beach. But I am back with vigor.

- Really, who is surprised by the fact that Larry Brown wants to take another job? Certainly not me, this guy changes job more than Anthony Mason hairstyles (that’s an old school reference). What is worse is the fact that Brown stands up there and denies it, Larry we all know you are leaving, you are a bad liar. I also have a funny feeling that LeBron James may not be around Cleveland too much longer. Mike Brown as Coach and Larry Brown as GM? Owner Dan Gilbert does not seem to be putting the pieces together to build a winning organization. In fact, they fired a coach who had them in the playoffs more than two thirds of the way through this season. I am not sure if LeBron is going to be happy with all that is happening within this organization.

- I thought for many years there was no story that could annoy me more than steroids in baseball, but one has come along. As the Phil turns. This is really stupid and annoying, Phil and Kobe need to meet to see if they can get along. Who cares? Grow up you fucking losers, it is like two little kids who don’t want to share toys with each other. Honestly, I could care less if Phil coach’s there or not, because if they do not get some players in there they are not winning a damned thing anyway.

- Did you know Juan Gonzalez was still playing Major League Baseball? I did not, well he is not really playing. He got one at bat last night and hurt himself running to first base. I think his career injuries have hurt more than anyone in modern baseball, yes more than Ken Griffey Jr. Gonzalez has hit 434 HR’s in 17 seasons, only 8 of which he played over 130 games. In his 8 complete seasons he average 40 HR’s and 128 RBI. Those numbers are ridiculous, I think with a full healthy career this man would be among the all time great power hitters.

- Here is a bunch of sport stories that I and most of America does not care about ir don’t even realize are happening:

The French Open is going on. This is a tennis tournament people, do we remember when this tournament and tennis as a whole actually mattered to some of us? That was a long time ago!!

Danica Patrick racing in the Indy 500. First of all nobody gives a rat’s ass about IRL. Secondly, the last time we cared about the Indy 500 we also cared about Tennis. The experts say that Patrick moves the dial and makes people tune into the race. I do not know one person who tuned into this race simply because some chick was in one of the cars. In fact if nobody had told me a woman was in one of the cars I never would have guessed it, and nobody can tell me who one the damned race anyway which should be the important news.

Apparently David Beckham is playing in some sort of soccer game in the US this week. Supposedly we are told we need to care because the great Becks is playing on our soil. He may consider playing in the MLS next year. I have no idea who plays in the MLS still or if anyone goes to see games. Moreover, I hope Becks dies in a horrible kiln accident and the same goes for all soccer lovers and players. And yes that goes for you too Martin.

- Deep Throat has finally been revealed. I must admit, this news did not particularly excite me. I guess it is one of those things you had to be there for in order to understand. Obviously Deep Throat was going to be someone who was in a position of considerable authority, the information that he had released to Bob Woodward was highly classified. To me though this whole thing reeks of some sort of publicity stunt, but I am just an old conspiracy theorist.

AND

- Finally, as most of you know I get so excited during this time of the year because it is movie time. My last post was a review of the big early summer blockbuster Star Wars Episode III. I also gave a quick preview of movies I was going to see over the next few weeks and give reviews on. Unfortunately, this silly ass “city” I live in seems destined to make me seek out alternative means to see movies I want to see. Two movies which are currently out in theatres, Millions & Bomb the System, are not being shown and according to 2 theatres I spoke to are not going to be shown there. I am also apprehensive about the upcoming Lords of Dogtown, however I do know that I will see Cinderella Man this weekend. I was sitting around this evening and I saw an ad for the newest installment of Batman. Since the Batman series began it has been one piece of crap after another. Now I know Martin will get on me because I am a self professed comic book hater. And while that is true I have always been a fan of Batman, especially the old TV show. In this installment Bruce Wayne, inexplicable, finds himself in the Far East learning the ancient defense arts. And then he come back and is some sort of karate master Batman. I never seem to remember this angle in any other Batman comic, TV show, or movie. But in this day and age we have be able to jump in the air and constantly kick people a million times before landing (ala Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). This is guaranteed to be one movie I will not see, sorry Christian Bale.


OLD SCHOOL RAP LYRIC OF THE WEEK:

And I can go on and on for like a mile, a minute
I get in it like a car and drive
And if the record is smash, I can still survive
'Cause I'm the man of steel on the wheel that you're steerin'
Or rather playin' on the record that you're hearin'
You might not understand what I'm saying at first
So Action Love, put it in reverse

Name the artist and song title and win a prize.