nba musings

I swear, people left and right are trying to ruin Twitter. First, the Denver Post prints some story about J.R. Smith supposedly using gang signs on his Twitter. Yes, you heard that right. Gang signs. On his Twitter. How the hell does one accomplish THAT? By the end of the day *poof* J.R.’s Twitter is dead as disco. This royally frosts my cupcakes. Why? Because J.R. Smith is was priceless on Twitter. Simply priceless. If I had known this debacle was coming down today I would have at least taken a commemorative screen shot of his page or something. Instead, I’m stuck with this empty J.R.less existence. Not cool, Denver Post. Not cool.

Then, Ric Bucher (@RicBucher) shared the news (while still having balls enough to do so, I might add) that ESPN dropped the hammer. The hammer being a memo to their employees – including on-air personalities — that essentially seeks to cut them off at the knees in terms of what they can and can’t tweet about.

Source: http://twitter.com/RicBucher/status/3132468169

Unless it “serves” ESPN? Wha wha what?! The Worldwide Leader getting all, “I’m your master” on people. That just makes me queasy.

I realize there have to be some standards and practices. Hell, Chad Ochocinco (wait, is it “Ocho Cinco” or “Ochocinco”? Meh. F- it.) posted pictures of the Bengals’ drug test piss cups today on Twitpic. That can’t be kosher.

I commend Chad for giving fans inside access, but this might have been just a tad over the line. Just a tad.

Source: http://twitter.com/OGOchoCinco/status/3124716428

I guess we can be happy he didn’t decide we needed to see him actually pee in the cup. Aye yie yie.

Source: http://twitpic.com/cqlbd
From this tweet: http://twitter.com/OGOchoCinco/status/3124748206

So, I get it that at some point you have to create some guidelines, but ESPN and their ilk need to understand that the allure of Twitter for many people is the unfiltered access to insiders that it allows. Turn all of your associated Twitter accounts into PR machines vomiting press releases all day and just watch the follower counts drop like a lead balloon.

There has to be a happy medium. While ESPN mulls over just what that is, I hope they keep this in mind: Don’t ruin our fun!

ps. Looks like some NFL teams are cracking down. Thankfully the Bengals are not one of them!

Celtics: As good as the Celtics looked against the Bulls, they looked equally awful against the Pacers. I’m going to chalk this one up to fatigue and assume it won’t happen again any time soon *knocking on wood*. Speaking of the Bulls, could Tyrus Thomas be any more of an overrated tool? I know he and Baby are BFF and all, but I’ve never liked his attitude. I don’t like that attitude on anyone, but if you’re going to have that attitude, you better be able to back it up with great play — and he doesn’t.

NBA: Allen Iverson to the Pistons? Billups to Denver? I did not see that coming. I will have to visit my favorite Pistons blogs to see how that news is going over.

Patriots: I couldn’t watch. Based on all the post-game analysis I’ve listened to today, I’m glad I didn’t. *sigh* Also, there is just something that still frosts my cookies every time Adam V. (too lazy to Google the last name for correct spelling) kicks a game winner against the Pats. Grrrr.

Manny: Latest from the worldwide leader has spawn-of-Satan uber-agent Scott Boras sitting down with the Dodgers to haggle over Mannywood’s services. I’m still crossing my fingers for the Yankees. Something about putting Manny and A-Rod together into the utlimate haterade sandwich would just make my life complete.

I’m not gonna lie. This frightened me. So I had to post it to YouTube.

The random shot of the camera was also peculiar. Happy Halloween!

I just listened to the Curt Schilling radio interview where he blasts SPEAKS THE TRUTH about former teammate, Manny Ramirez. It is truly spectacular. I read about it at WickedPissaDude.com, but hadn’t had a chance to check it out. I was reminded about it this morning, because I’m watching First Take on ESPN and it was a topic that Skip Bayliss and Rob Parker were batting around. Rob Parker always takes the anti-Boston side of any argument, so I wasn’t surprised that his take was that Schill should shut his piehole. Skip said he thought it was great that Curt was speaking out, since he’s nothing if not brutally honest. As a Red Sox fan, I love hearing the first person account of the carnival that was Manny. Everything we already knew about Manny in the clubhouse was confirmed. He was a shitty teammate who got away with murder because he was a great player. Skip compared him to Barry Bonds (minus the roids) and I don’t think that’s a bad comparison.

That being said, I miss Manny and that’s why I’ve had such a hard time letting go of him. I miss the entertainment he provided even if it drove me batshrimp crazy. It’s like having an annoying little brother who drives you completely nuts and then he goes off to summer camp and you suddenly miss having someone to yell at.

The Giants looked good last night. Bitches.

I’m working from home today and on the tube in the background is ESPN2. I suffered through two Nascar practices waiting for First Take to come on. When it finally comes on, it turns out the guest yacker today is Stephen A. Smith. Interesting. I think I’m one of the two people in the world (me and Stephen A’s mama) who actually liked his show (“This is my house… but you’re welcome any time.”) before it got shrimpcanned. SAS and Skip Bayless are talking about Tom Brady’s foot. Bayless thinks it’s fishy that Belichick took Brady off the injury report list (for the first time since 2005). SAS thinks if Brady really is hurt, he wouldn’t be playing in the upcoming Chiefs game.

All this talk about Brady is making me jumpy.

Holy hell, it’s hot up in this bitch. This bitch being New England. I’m sure other parts of the country are much hotter, but I only care about me obviously.

My day today started out super. The darling counter chick at Dunkin Donuts bitched me out because she got my order wrong. Yes, it was all MY fault she couldn’t wrap her mind around the difference between an ice coffee and a regular coffee on a 90+ degree day. It was clearly way out of line for me to expect her to correct it. I might’ve screamed “f–k you and your mother too” as I was peeling away from the drive-thru window. Homie don’t play on a sunny day, yo. <– I clearly missed my calling as a gangsta rapper.  I haven’t heard a rhyme this tight since…

The Red Sox managed to win a close one last night. Papelbon actually saved a game too. I’m thinking streak. Let’s do it! Hopefully the Rays continue to lose too. That would be most helpful. My theory on them is that they’re shooting their wad right now and will be burned out by the time we get to the playoffs. Well, that’s the plan on my end anyway. I didn’t actually watch last night’s game until the final inning. I have an attention span problem when it comes to baseball unless I really force myself to watch from beginning to end… oh and speaking of attention span problems, what’s this I hear about Manny not swinging at pitches during the game? What hell, you say? I prefer to think he was just daydreaming about ponies and forgot he was at the plate.

For the love of the kabbalah red string and all that is holy, would the braintrust at ESPN and all their various talking heads please PLEASE please stop qualifying themselves every time they want to say anything about Stray A-Rod. I’m so sick of hearing them tap dance around the fact that they’re reporting on gossip. They should either shut the frack up and not talk about it – if it really pains them so much — or they should just talk about it and not worry about how it makes them look. Personally, I don’t see ESPN as a bastion of impartiality in the first place, so what difference does it make?

Dear Brett Favre – MAKE UP YOUR FRACKING MIND! Thank you and good day sir. I said good day!

Son of a bratwurst, I thought of all these things I wanted to blog about today on my ride home from work (I have an hour commute and it keeps me from flipping off all the tools who fly by me yapping on their cell phones with one hand and smoking cigarrettes with the other — hey, who needs hands to drive? Not them, apparently!) and now I’ve pretty much forgotten all of it. Oh wait, now I remember… one of the things anyway.

Can I call an end to ESPN subbing in professional athletes to fill in for Mike Golic this week on Mike & Mike? I had no idea how much I truly despised Osi Umenurabastard until today. What a cocky monkeynut. Ok fine, I’m still bitter about the Superbowl, but damn… I wanted to fist fight him over pretty much every statement coming out of his mouth. He’d kill me of course, but that’s neither here nor there in a fictional fist fight. In a fictional fist fight, maybe I kick his ass.  It’s nice to finally have an NFL team to hate. I really want to hate the Colts, but they just aren’t that hateable. Even the Cowboys haven’t stepped up far enough to draw my ire yet. The Giants however, they’ve finally earned my eternal loathing.

Red Sox are playing right now. Wakefield is pitching. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t have a great feeling about it. I hate road games. Fenway is so much more fun. The familiarity of the park is better and of course the fans are wayyyyy better.  Cora just screwed up a routine play and then Cash missed a throw so the Rays draw first blood. Maybe if I switch the channel they’ll start playing better. The WNBA is on ESPN2. Ah, so that’s where Ivory Latta ended up.

I can’t wait to see where all the NBA free agents land. I heard that the Celtics offered contracts to both Posey and Maggette. Interesting. I love James Posey. Love love love him. I hope he stays, but I have a feeling he’s heading to warmer pastures. I think he really missed Miami this season even though he won a championship in Boston. I wouldn’t be shocked if he ends up somewhere where the sun shines a lot more. We’ll see.

Watching the NBA draft. Not too many surprises. A couple notes though:

1. Who knew that Joe Alexander had such a booming over-the-top loud voice? It was unsettling. Also, was it just me or was Stephen A. Smith dissing him at the end of the interview by saying that he was saying his team was lucky to get him (instead of him being lucky to get drafted)? Maybe it was just Stephen A. being Stephen A., but it sounded oddly hostile to me.
2. O.J. Mayo in Minnesota? Can’t see it. Never mind.
3. Have the NY fans at MSG ever NOT boo’ed their pick?
4. Pat Riley. What a minx.
5. Have I mentioned I love Jay Bilas? Oh I have? Never mind, then.
6. Why is Darrell Arthur dropping like a stone?
7. Josh McRoberts was included in a Portland trade with Indiana. Maybe playing at home will be good for him. He’ll also be reunited with Mike Dunleavy, Jr.
8. If the Orlando Magic select a shooting guard, I’m going to spazz out. They better take Arthur.
9. They just selected a shooting guard. Boo! Hiss! I don’t want to see J.J. on bench duty for yet another season.
10. I was typing and thought they just said that “Sir Chewbacca” just went to Seattle as the 24th pick. Clearly I need to actually read the picks and not just listen to Stern’s pronunciations.

Currently watching the NBA Draft Special on ESPN2. I seriously love Jay Bilas. Ok fine, I love Duke. Worse than that, I love Duke because of J.J. Redick. *ducking* Say what you will about J.J. and I’ve heard it all, but he was an assassin in his time. No, not an asshole – an assassin. See, I can read your mind. Scary huh? Everybody (save a few Crazies) hates Duke, I get that, but I’m not everybody. I could care less how unpopular my sports teams are. You can’t be a Patriots fan and be thin skinned.

Random thoughts… –I can’t get enough of this Shaq diss rap crap. It’s incredibly entertaining. Oh and ps, but I hope Kobe (or anyone else) doesn’t ever find out how Shaq’s ass tastes. Ewww. I guess I shouldn’t judge. Maybe you’re into that sort of thing. –Justin Masterson is impressive. The Sox have a great farm system. –I miss the NBA already. Thank goodness for draft coverage. The off-season is going to kill me though. Especially since I don’t even get NBA-TV. What kind of god-awful digital cable includes the NFL Network and doesn’t offer NBA-TV? Mine! Boo! –This may have been said already, but is it just me or does Bulls head coach Vinny del Negro bear a striking resemblance to Luke Wilson? –Update, Red Sox pull out a win against the Diamondbacks! Hot damn! Happy Jerry Remy Night to all!