What the Deuce?

Yesterday, all the headlines read, "Houston We Have a Big Problem!" Finding out Yao Ming will be lost for the rest of the season, the Houston Rockets playoff hopes are gone. However, the Rockets came out smoking in their first game without Yao crushing the Washington Wizards 94-69, extending their 13 game win streak.
How is this possible? The Wiz, overachieving without Agent 0, two days ago knocked off one of the best teams in the NBA, the New Orleans Hornets. How do you not show up one night later against a team that had just had all their hopes smashed like Dana Jacobson after a roast. This is up there with the defending NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs putting up just 5 points in one quarter against the potent Memphis Grizzlies.

Breaking News:Population Doubled!

Big news goin on in Washington County, Nebraska. Apparenty Friday nights in Fort Calhoun are a hot ticket. Are you like me? Are you wondering whether 1951 All State QB Roger Bauer made a special appearance?
Local Fish Fry Doubles Population

One and Done!

It took the Tennessee Volunteers 99 years to be the number one team in college basketball. It took them less than 30 hours to lose their lose number 1 ranking. The Volunteers lost on the road to in state rival Vanderbilt 72-69. Some might not call it an upset, everyone was picking the Commodores to upset Tennessee at home.

The Vols were a 3 point favorite. As for Vandy, their last nine games against the number one team at Memorial Gym (yeah the one with the weird benches), they are 6-3. Their last win against a number one team came just last year when the Commodores upset the top Florida Gators. Tennessee is really a basketball state!

NBA Line of the Week for 2/18 to 2/24

I'm tempted to call this section King James' Line of the Week or Chris Paul's "Pimpin ain't easy." These guys constantly puts up crazy numbers. Also, James and Paul are quickly becoming my two favorite ballers and both are two of the best players in the game. Lebron finally got some help he so desperately needed (we'll see how much help it really is), and Chris Paul has brought the New Orleans Hornets to the top of the high flying Western Conference. Both players get the nod for last week, although I feel kind of bad leaving Manu Ginobili out, he's really stepping up.

Lebron had back to back triple doubles on the road last week. Here's what he averaged for the week: 28.8 points, 10.5 assists, 12.3 rebounds helping the Cavs go 3-1. This guy will some day average a triple double for the year.
As for Paul, Wednesday night (2/20), he put up 31 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, 9 steals!, and only 1 turnover in a huge 104-93 over the Dallas Mavericks (With Jason Kidd).

Memphis Gameday Recap

Wow! What a freakin weekend! Whenever you have No. 1 vs. No. 2, regardless of the sport, there will always be plenty of excitement and energy. But when it's in state rivals and two programs facing the biggest game in their history, the stakes are even higher. Needless to say, plenty of buzz in Memphis last weekend.

Thursday, the Fed Ex Forum hosted two Cirque du Soleil shows, followed by a Friday night home NBA Grizzlies game (I know, probably the least exciting event of the weekend, except they were playing Jason Kidd and the new look Dallas Mavericks), capped off by Saturday night's epic showdown. I will admit, it was pretty cool watching some of the Mavs Friday afternoon shoot around with Kidd, Dirk, Stackhouse, Josh Howard and Mark Cuban bumpin around.

Oh yeah, and Saturday night Priscilla Presley and Peyton Manning! (Note: JT didn't show up because he didn't want to take too much attention away from the game and he thought there would be too many people in his suite. Eli wasn't there, well, I guess because he didn't attend any of these schools.)


Penny Hardaway also made an appearance wearing an old Memphis #25 letter jacket. (I know, Penny, no big deal, but it's nice to know he's still alive.
As for the game itself, pretty awesome! Rumor was court side tickets were going for $5,000 on Ebay. I think both these teams will be there at the end come tourney time, they're both nice. I was on the court two hours before tip off for the shoot arounds. I mean, it was a bunch of brothers out there shooting the rock and having fun. Robert Dozier for Memphis is an absolute beast! Derrick Rose really came of age. Anytime a freshman can play that well in a game of that magnitude, remember him. J.P. Prince came off the bench and scored 13 second half points for the Vols. Big surprise, the game basically came down to free throw shooting and Memphis is horrible.
Bruce Pearl made the best coaching decision of the game when Tennessee fouled Rose with under 5 seconds left and made him go to the line instead of having a chance to tie the game with a three. Sounds pretty elementary, but you rarely see teams or coaches execute this way.
The highlight for me was easily Beale Street.

Beale St. consists of nothing but bars with cheap booze, live blues music, great barbecue and hot chicks. Our hotel was a block away from Beale Street and two blocks from the Fed Ex Forum, what a great set up! Beale Street was rocking all weekend!


I have to give props to Silky O'Sullivans. Was there Friday night and actually met Silky himself. Silky was a cross between Boss Hogg and Fog Horn Leghorn. He's also been the Grand Marshall for Mardi Gras the last three years. Yeah, he's a pimp. Check out the pictures, he's the old guy in the cowboy hat. Silky hooked us up all night with dry rubbed ribs falling off the bone, Divers (Silky's signature drinks, basically like a fishbowl but in a bucket.), and Silky knew every chick in the joint. He had my buddy and me parked in front of the women's restroom and introduced us every hot chick he deemed worthy. "If you can't get laid at Silky's, you are a certified queer." "Come back tomorrow and it will be like clubbin seals with an oar." Oh, I wish Memphis would have one. Enjoy the pix!

Breast Awareness Week!

No. 1 vs. No. 2 square off Saturday night in Memphis as Tigers host the in state rival Volunteers. No.3 and 4 happen to both be from North Carolina. A look at the College Hoops Highway.

Check the top 24 finalists for American Idol.

For Oscar week, check out some of the best worn dresses in Hollywood History.

Complete MLB schedules for 2008.

It appears Rick Reilly and Dan Patrick have switched positions. Patrick is in full swing with Sports Illustrated and I believe Reilly is to have his own show on ESPN coming this Spring.

NBA Line of the Week for 2/12 to All Star Break

Even though this was a shortened week in the NBA, Manu Ginobili lived up to his nickname "Super G." In a rematch of last year's lopsided NBA Finals, Ginobili helped the Spurs come from behind on the road against Lebron James and his lack of supporting cast. (OK, so Larry Hughes blew up for 40 points the other night, don't plan on seeing Hughes ever again coming close to that total). With the Spurs down 4 points entering the 4th quarter, Ginobili stepped up and hit 4-4 3point shots and 18 points in the final quarter. The Spurs hung on to beat the Cavs 112-105 (Wednesday 2/13).
Ginobili's final line: 46 points, 8 assists, 5 boards, 3 steals, 15-20 fg%, 8-11 3 point fg% and 8-9 from the charity stripe.

Phins Off Season

I know everyone's been wondering exactly what I think about what's going in South Florida. In one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, phins fans everywhere have been looking forward to the off season. Great move bringing in Bill Parcells. Parcells has been a proven winner with the Midas Touch. But boy! does he have his work cut out for him. It's been great to see Tuna not waste any time to dismantle the Dolphins who have continued to sink lower and lower for the last 5 years. Parcells axed Cam Cameron (who had no business ever coming to Miami), got rid of GM Randy Mueller (maybe the number one reason why the Dolphins have sucked in recent years), and totally rebuild the coaching staff.
Next, the focus has been the players. I mean can you believe all the players Miami has let go! Talk about not messing around.

Many Phins fans still question the release of fan favorite Zach Thomas. Thomas has been the heart and soul of the franchise since Marino retired. And of course now, the Patriots are rumored to sign Thomas. Another high caliber Phin to the Pats! Next thing you know, Jason Taylor will be released and playing for New England.
Speaking of Taylor, what do you do with him? Taylor will be Dancing with the Stars this Spring and now you've got to wonder how much focus he has left on football.

Taylor has spoken before about trying to get into acting. Come on! Taylor maybe has 4 years tops left in the NFL. Considering Miami won't be able to seriously compete for another 3 years, maybe releasing Taylor wouldn't be the worse idea. I mean, Taylor is my favorite Dolphin on their current roster and I don't want to see him go. But maybe you can sign him and then trade for younger players and future draft picks. My heart tells me to sign Taylor and keep as a Phin for his career. The guy is an all world stud. He may have had a sub par season last year,

but he was also surrounded by very little talent and don't forget the fact that Miami's defense was always on the field. I guess the deciding factor will be if the Dolphins want to run a 3-4 or a 4-3 defense.
Who knows, the Dolphins still could be 8-8 or even 9-7 next year. I know, you think that's crazy, but Miami lost 6 games by a field goal or less last year, with their dismal record, they'll have a favorable schedule, and come on, it's the NFL, so many times we've seen teams come from out of nowhere to compete (New Orleans, how about the NY Giants, just in the last couple years).
With all the cuts the Dolphins have made in the last week, they're looking at about $50 million in cap space. So Miami will definitely be looking to pick up a few big names. The Dolphins need help just about everywhere but running back. Ronnie Brown was leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage before he went down for the season. Brown is a young nasty back who could really tear it up if he's not the only offensive threat. Look for Parcells to go after a few Dallas players. There's been talk about Keyshawn coming out of retirement and Chad Johnson moving to South Florida. (Not quite sure about Ocho Cinco, he was my second overall pick in one of my fantasy teams last year, didn't pan out so great).
As for the draft, there was talk about Miami trading their top pick to Dallas for Marion Barber, I don't know why.


Then it was Glen Dorsey, Chris Long (DE, Virginia), Sedrick Ellis (DT, USC). Are you kidding me! Did we not learn anything from last year's draft? We need a freakin QB! The Phins wasted their pick last year (and maybe even wasted an entire season). Matt Ryan is the pick! The guy has all the makings of an NFL QB, a precision passer with decent mobility.

So if you pick Ryan (which you better), he probably won't start until after the halfway point of the season (at least you would hope he doesn't get the call any earlier, he'd be nothing but a tackling dummy). So he sits and learns from Jonathan Beck?
The Phins second overall pick could possibly be Dan Connor (Penn St), another sick white boy linebacker to take over for Zach Thomas.
So basically Miami needs to draft well, and we all know how Parcells has fared in previous drafts, and bring in a few quality free agents, and I think in two years, this franchise will be back in the playoffs.
In honor of Zach Thomas, I found this tribute highlight video. Thanks for the all the great years Zach. We'll miss you!

In addition to being a seven-time All-Pro selection by the Associated Press and a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, Thomas earned the following awards and honors in his NFL career:

• NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month (October 1996)
• All-Rookie selection by College & Pro Football Newsweekly, The Football News, Pro Football Weekly and Pro Football Writers of America (1996)
• AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year (1996)
• Dolphins' 1996 Unsung Hero Award as selected by NFLPA
• Dolphins MVP and Newcomer of the Year by South Florida media (1996)
• Pro Bowl alternate (1996)
• AFC Defensive Player of the Month (September 1998)
• 2x NFL Alumni Association's Linebacker of the Year (1998, 2006)
• First-team All-Pro selection by the USA Today, College & Pro Football Newsweekly and Football Digest (1998)
• 1998 All-Madden Team (1998)
• 3x Dolphins' Leadership Award (1998, 1999, 2005)
• Weeks 1 & 16 2001 AFC Defensive Player of the Week (2001)
• Dolphins MVP by South Florida media and fans (2001)
• All-Iron Team as selected by CBS analyst Phil Simms (2001)
• PFWA Dolphins Chapter "Good Guy" Award (2001)
• First-team Pro Football Weekly All-AFC (2002)
• First-team Sports Illustrated All-Pro (2003)
• Second-team Football Digest All-Pro (2003)
• Week 14 AFC Defensive Player of the Week (2005)
• All-AFC selection by Pro Football Weekly and the Pro Football Writers of America (2006)
• More tackles than any linebacker currently in the Hall of Fame

Leave Bill Belichick Alone!

I know, it's been 2 weeks since the Patriots blew perfection and got punched in the teeth, but this stuff never gets old. I'm sure sometime in the next year, we'll see Bill Belichick and Tom Brady standing in front of Congress explaining why they needed to film opposing teams' practices/walk throughs. We're all sick of the controversys off the field which have been the media's main focus of attention since the Mithchell Report. Everyone constantly wonders why our tax dollars are going to investigations in the sporting world and not focusing on gas prices, war, the economy, etc. Well, let me ask you this, did you think you would ever spend 4 1/2 hours watching a congressional hearing? Would you rather watch a congressional hearing on the economy or one with uber famous athletes being grilled by Congress? Would you rather spend your Monday afternoon in a court room or at RFK Stadium taking in an afternoon baseball game? (I know, the last one might be a toss up).
But come on, this is must see TV. This is reality TV at its best.

Kidd to Dallas

Jason Kidd finally gets his wish. Kidd will be part of an 8 player mega trade, involving the Nets and Mavericks, sending the triple double machine back to where he started his career. Mark Cuban thought he needed to make a move after watching the Lakers and Suns try to improve their teams for the second half of the season. This should make the Mavericks serious contenders to compete for the Western Confernce Title. Oh Yeah, and really fun to watch.
Complete details from the NY Post.

Hey New England, Here's What You Missed!

Burnt Orange

Keep your eyes upon thee. With last night's 72-69 win over No. 3 Kansas, the Texas Longhorns have now beaten three Top 10 Teams! Previously, the Longhorns beat then No. 1 UCLA and current No. 4, and very nice looking, Tennessee. These are 3 possible No. 1 seeds. Look at the Longhorns (20-4) losses: No. 10 Michigan St., a one point loss to No. 15 Wisconsin, and setbacks at Mizzou and College Station to the newly ranked Aggies. What's all this mean? That the Longhorns are better without Kevin Durant? (Not likely.) That the Longhorns are serious National Title Contenders? (I think so.) Or, the Longhorns are good enough to play with any team in the nation, but will still lack consistency down the stretch? (Most likely.) The Longhorns punched their ticket to the Big Dance? (Most Definetly.)
Watch the Longhorns drop their next game (Saturday, 2/16) at Baylor.

Them Boots........Oh Them Boots!

Okay, I am in love with this girl! She's small town, she's original, she's real, she likes to shoot whiskey, play pool, and, oh yeah, she is so freakin hot! She only seems to get hotter and sexier everytime you see her.
Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!!!!!!!!