God's Way of Telling Orlando Hudson and Torri Hunter to Get the Stepping

Sure, the pitchers name was Doug Fister and he struck out just 3 batters. Sure it just so happened the fan responsible for the K cards was perched right next to the Jackie Robinson 42 sign. But at which point do we cross the line in to the just a little too coincidental territory?

h/t Deadspin.

Why Kentucky and Kansas Will Never Win Again

Experience wins through and through. Cal and Bill Self can keep chasing the one and dones but their ceiling will always be the Elite 8.

Big h/t to Luke Winn at SI and the guys at Rush the Court

Dynasty Renewed

Did anyone else order six of those championship hats? Nobody?

Wooden, Rupp, Krzyzewski

It's A Blue Devil Kind of Morning

To Recap:

Duke returns to Final Four for 11th time under Coach K. Check.
JJ Redick 23 Points, 8 Assists, 7 Boards in Magic win over Nuggets. Check.
Sheldon Williams 11 points in 11 minutes off the Celtics bench. Check.

It's going to be one of those days.

Devendorf Scores 49, Career High

Former Syracuse stud Eric Devendorf dropped 49 points to lead the Pistons over the Giants in some excellent New Zealand Basketball League action. The Pistons are the Waikato Pistons while the Giants hail from the city of Nelson, for what it's worth.

Devendorf left 'Cuse with a year of eligibility left presumably to test the draft waters although it probably had more to do with Coach Boeheim's inability to protect him from anymore choking incidents. He went undrafted, shockingly, before grabbing on to the D League. That didn't last long and he was unceremoniously cut a month or two back.

I know he was widely hated but when he was nailing 3's in that 6 OT thriller against UConn just one year ago it was damn near impossible not to pull for the guy.

The Writing is On The Wall

It is on the floor and the ceiling too. Time to say good night to the Jim Baron era in Kingston RI.

His welcome first wore out back in 2004, then again in 2005 and pretty much every disappointing February and March since. Just when we thought we were stuck with four more years of an overrated father/son combo, the former retaining his job through some sort of reverse nepotism, it looks like the youngest Baron is off to play with the big boys in the ACC.

According to the Projo and Scouts.com, Billy Baron is considering or has already accepted a scholarship to play for Virginia in the fall of 2010. Coach Baron has acknowledged as much saying when the ACC comes calling, you have to listen. It's safe to say that is not a problem the elder Baron will have in the near future...or ever.

Since Jim Baron is an employee of the school, Billy never had to sign a letter of intent to play for the Rams making the Virginia decision a litte easier.

It has always been my belief that JB Sr maintained his job during the middle of the decade due to the prominence of JB Jr who almost single handidly put URI in Lunardi's bubble watch year in and year out before Sr destroyed it. When rumor had Billy coming to campus, it looked as if the Rams were back to square one. Now that he's taking his game (which isn't half bad, 3 star recruit, 37th best PG in his class), it's time his father packed up the moving van and moved along with him...not to coach of course, that would be crazy. But it sure would be nice seeing a familiar face in the stands as Duke wipes the floor with the Cav's over the next four years.

h/t The Sporting Blog

How Much do the Puerto Ricans Pay?

Antoine is taking that stupid shake thing he does off to the Virgin Islands where he has recently signed on with the Guaynabo's down in some PR league. Rumor has it he needs the cash pretty badly. Something about bad checks in a Vegas casino

I'm guessing he'll see something in the range of $10,000 - $20,000 per season based on the crowds those games draw. He'll have that 4 mil chipped away in no time.

What confuses me about guys like Toine is what is wrong with China. Marbury took his crazy ass over there recently and played to sold out crowds every night. He played only a handful of actual games yet commanded several hundred thousand dollars for his services. And if not China, what about Spain, Greece, Italy or Russia? All respectable professional leagues that pay a surprisingly decent amount of money.

The Great White Hope

Jack Johnson who? Kyle Singler went off last night. 8 for 10 from long distance. 30 points.

Every talking head in college ball goes on and on about how great this Duke team could be if Singler gets hot. I feel like I've been hearing that from the moment he walked into Cameron. He's always been a shooter without the shooter's touch in my eye. He doesn't take bad shots, he just doesn't hit many open ones. Somehow, he always winds up with 15 points but I swear to god 10 of them come from the free throw line.

Singler was the preseason pick for ACC POY and many saw him as a first team All-American guy. Then as the season began, so did his typical struggles and so did every Jay Bilas wannabe saying just wait for this kid to get going. Does last night mean he's found his groove? Probably not. He'll revert back to his 36.7% from the field, 20% from behind the arc. But last night was awfully refreshing.

Raw Deal for Michael Irvin

One would have thought his troubles ended when he moved over to the NFL Network but he can't shake the ESPN curse no matter how hard he tries. A civil suit for surprise sex has been filed against Irvin for an alleged incident that took place over three years ago. Not three weeks, three YEARS. This is why the statute of limitations needs to be 30 days for this sort of thing. Poor guy.

I Saw Greg Oden's Cock

Not going to shrink the deficit.

SI's All Decade Teams Are Out

And really who gives a shit. But this is interesting -
College Basketball:

JJ Redick (Also, Player of the Decade, all sports)
Shane Battier (Runner up, POD, all sports)
Jason Williams
Emeka Okafor
Tyler Hansbrough

Coach: Roy Williams

Run of the mill Duke dominance if you ask me, no surprises there.

However Luol Deng, Chris Duhon and Kyle Singler got ROBBED.

Your Tiger Related Quote of the Day

"I don't see the big deal about it. The president cheated on his wife. We're all human. Human beings are the only ones that have just one partner. You watch National Geographic and the lions, they have like five or six partners. The human race is the only being that is monogamous with partners."

- TJ Houshmanzadeh

Tiger a Shrewed Business Man

The jokes have been written about this being the most expensive car accident ever. A 164 dollar ticket, 3,200 in damage to the Caddy plus untold millions in divorce settlements and child support. The guy is rumored to be worth up to a billion and he's only now entering the peak of his earning years. The fees he will generate over the next decade in golf course designs and sponsorships are astronomical. A net worth of a billion might be low balling things.

Now the news comes out that Tiger's reputation as a hound (first revealed in a 1997 GQ article) held serve all the way through his 2004 wedding and the births of a couple of children, his net worth had been expected to drop considerably - to a cool 500 million. Not so fast.

See, in 2004 when he married the Swedish nanny, he got her to sign a prenup. No surprise there, lots of rich people do it. The jaw dropping part is the amount Elin would be entitled to should they actually divorce. Answer? Nothing if the marriage fell apart before 10 years and if it lasted longer than that only 20 million. In 2004, Tiger was worth hundreds of millions yet he convinced her to settle for a mere 20 million and even then, only after 10 years.

According to the Daily Beast, things have changed a little bit.

In a statement Wednesday, Tiger said, “I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.” Words are evidently not enough to mollify Elin: The Daily Beast has learned the details of what it’s costing Tiger to keep his marriage intact. A lawyer familiar with the hastily conducted negotiations of the past 72 hours said that as of Wednesday evening Elin has been offered a $5 million payment immediately if she agrees to stay—and her prenuptial agreement is being revised to give her up to an additional $55 million.

To collect the revised 75 million, Elin needs to stick it out for another 2 years. The vesting period cut short by 3 years. Even then this is a steal for Woods. On the face of it all, this looks more like a business arrangement then a marriage. All these terms in conditions read like an incentive laden baseball contract. And given these new details, it is not really surprising to learn of Woods' unfaithful ways. He wasn't cheating on his loving wife, he was lining up future business partners.

JJ Redick Is Actually Kind of Funny

If people don't get he obvious, overt sarcasm here then they can squarely go fuck themselves. A few blogs seem to be taking this clip a little too seriously. Kobe will score 20 on JJ before he ever drops an album...which is to say not gonna happen.

Obama's America on Full Display

This is what provocative radio personality Rush Limbaugh had to say after being dropped from a group seeking to buy the St. Louis Rams. I can't disagree with him. It's bullshit that he was railroaded from this bid simply because of his politics. Love him or hate him, to see this happen is the opposite of progress.

To recap, Limbaugh along with several other investors including the owner of the St. Louis Blues came out as potential suitors for the putrid Rams team which should be put up for sale sometime this year. There was an immediate backlash from players, fans, other owners and of course Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. A lot of the anger stems from comments Rush made on ESPN about Donovan McNabb and the media overrating him because of their desire to see a black, drop back passer succeed in the NFL. While the comment was certainly controversial - what does Rush ever say that is not -it was not racially insensitive.

There are also allegations that he's said some offensive stuff regarding basketball (it's a game for thugs and gangs) and the current state of the NFL (looks like the Bloods vs. the Crypts out there every week). However there is no hard proof he said any of this. Any time you hear about the super insensitive stuff Limbaugh allegedly said it's from one of his sworn enemies. Yet the public get's a hold of this and he's all of a sudden the second coming of Jimmy the Greek.

If Limbaugh was a black guy who said racially charged shit yet supported the liberal cause his bid would never have been challenged. If Michael Moore sought to buy a team, nobody would have said a god damn thing. Yet because Rush is Rush and he happens to be rather opinionated, especially with the anti-Obama stuff, his involvement was laughed off from the moment it became public.

And thus, we have what some of us have feared all along - Obama's America. First Amendment rights are protected - so long as you speak out for the Democrat cause - and Capitalism is promoted - so long as you don't want to buy shit with conservative money.

Scot Pollard Assisting in Recruiting Violations?

Remember that little tussle between the Kansas Jayhawks football and basketball teams? You know, the one where KU guard Tyshawn Taylor wound up in the hospital before taking the fight to Twitter. That was fun.

Well, it hasn't been a great couple of months for Taylor. In Mid-September, a car allegedly belonging to Taylor was invovlved in a fendor bender while being driven by teammate Markieffe Morris. Morris reported the car as Taylor's but the police found it actually belonged to former Jayhawk (and Celtic) STUD Scot Pollard. Soooo what gives here?

Pollard claims he sold the car to Taylor but the sale hadn't been finalized due to an inability to find a fair price. Confident a deal would work itself out, Pollard allowed Taylor to continue driving the vehicle. Both Pollard and the KU Athletic Department claim the sale was approved but the situation remains sketchy.

This would not be the first case of an allumni providing prospects or current players with cash, money or other gifts and this isn't to say that is what's even going on here. It's just another negative story involving the KU hoops team (and Taylor) before the season even starts. Don't forget, this is your preseason number 1 team in the country. Bill Self needs to get control fast. The fight, the DUI's, the lack of discipline...sets the stage for a very disappointing 2009/2010 campaign.

Obama Can't Close Shit

So your 2016 Summer Olympics host city is Rio De Janeiro and I couldn't be happier. The global community's love affair with Obama had to end sooner or later and it was nice to see the IOC not get bullied around or pressured into picking Chicago.

It will be the first time the Olympics are held in South America which is really surprising and disappointing if you ask me. It's safe to say they were overdue.

The only downside is having to wait 7 more years and suffer through the 2012 Summer Games in London before we get there. London's only slightly more desireable than Chicago and I'm not exactly thrilled at the prospect of Jim Lampley or Bob Costas taking us on virtual tours of The Big Smoke. On the other hand, Jim Lampley being detained by the Peelers for boxing his wife again could make for quite the interesting side story.

Twitter is the Gift That Keeps On Giving

First of all, I'm calling bullshit on Rodney Harrison claiming his twitter page was a fake after getting into a back and forth with Kerry Rhodes. That shit was as real as Fitty's brother's page but at least Marcus had the balls to back it up and offer a half assed apology. When Rodney realized how juvenile he looked he bailed.

All that said, I don't feel too bad for him when T.O. comes out on his twitter and destroys Harrison for some comments he made during Football Night in America. Rodney makes some pretty bold statements on the NBC and he takes shots at a lot of players and coaches so it's not a surprise some active guys return fire. To wit:

1. Hey rodney! Send me sum steroids 2 the Bills facility next week!about 10 hours ago from MogoTXT
2. Is tht Y u used steroids b/c u were worried about ur stats or ws it b/c u were losing it? Lol! U're a loser & a cheater? Got any steroid ...about 10 hours ago from MogoTXT

I could less about Rodney Harrison! Anybody tht using steroids, yes
STEROIDS rodney, is a cheater & cheated the game!about 10 hours ago from MogoTXT
It's just a shame Rodney's twitter page was fake otherwise we could see some fire works.

Money May In Peak Form

Floyd is on his worldwide media tour promoting his upcoming fight with Juan Manual Marquez so we've seen him show up on ESPN News earlier in the week (video posted here) and just yesterday he made an appearance with Brian Kenny on the real ESPN.

Highly entertaining as all Mayweather interviews are. Also quite long, coming in at a shade over 13 minutes. Worth the full watch though. Floyd makes lots of great points and love him or hate him, it is almost impossible to disagree with him.

Fast forward to the 9 minute mark and you'll find him speaking not so nicely about current welterweight champ Shane Moseley (What? Are you talking about 5 loss Shane Moseley?). The recurring theme for the entire interview is Floyd's (perhaps accurate) view that the media has an Obama-like love affair going with Pac Man. The man has a point, in his entire career, Pac hasn't brought in the PPV numbers that Mayweather brought in during his last two fights.

Who Is This JJ Redick Guy?

The Magic played without star center Dwight Howard last night and it hardly seemed to matter. They were easily able to close out the 76ers in dominating fashion but the real story of the game was spot starter JJ Redick.

How's this for filling out a stat sheet - 31 minutes, 15 points on 5 for 9 shooting including a blistering 5 for 7 from behind the arc, 3 boards and 4 dimes. Not bad for a scrub and easily the reason the Magic were able to over come the loss of two starters.

JJ's contract is up after this season. It will be nice to see him on a team that gives him more opportunities to shine like he did last night.