A day late and a dollar short for Osama bin Dunkin

The NCAA just announced that they're moving the 3 pt line back. If only this would have happened five years ago, our IMA teams would have been unstoppable.

NBA Lottery Running Diary

NBA Lottery drawing 2007! The excitement! The drama! The ineptitude! The culmination of a season's worth of tanking!

The big prize, of course, is Greg Oden. Anyone who takes Kevin Durant over Oden is automatically the worst of the already distiguished group of horrendous General Managers we have assembled. Let's see what transpired....

5:24 Fred Hickman begins a nice montage about getting better through drafting in the lottery. Can Memphis become San Antonio? No chance.

5:25 The Hornets DO have fans. Now I have visual proof.

5:27 Good God, that's a big matrix on the wall of the drawing room. We have computers now, is that thing really necessary?

5:28 Greg Anthony's take on who has the most at stake? Boston and New York. Thanks for coming out, Greg.

5:29 Kevin Garnett is a "perimeter big man"? Was that a back-handed compliment to Durant by Jay Bilas?

5:31 A Patrick Ewing sighting! He played for the Sonics! Is it a sign?

5:32 I just realized that this is going to take an entire half hour. Ugh. This is worse than Deal or No Deal.

5:35 More playoff coverage. BO-RING!

5:38 David Stern defends his suspension decision. Here's a question that won't be asked: how's that Utah vs. San Antonio series working out for you?

5:40 Does Bernie Tolbert really have to just stand there to protect the envelopes? Is that his entire job, all year long?

5:42 And for dinner? Jambalaya. Good omen for New Orleans? Only time will tell.

5:43 And now for the best part: bad GM row call!

5:44 I'd like to take a moment to point out that the Sonics don't have a coach OR a GM right now.

5:45 Could Brandon Roy play with Greg Oden? After the Sonics move to Oklahoma City, that might be enough to convince me to check NBA box scores every once in a while.

5:46 Here we go!

5:46 No love for New Orleans from my jambalaya. It figures, because the jambalaya sucks. I'm a bad cook.

5:46 No changes yet. Go Sonics!

5:47 So intense! SHUT UP HICKMAN!

5:47 Portland moves up!

5:47 SEATTLE MOVES UP!!! OH MY GOD!!!

5:48 Dammit, here's the Deal or No Deal moment.

5:50 Frantic emails and text messages to and from friends later, I'm deciding what to promise God in exchange for Greg Oden. Community service? My first born?

5:51 Number 1 or 2! Wowowowowow!

5:51 Kevin Durant baby! And Brandon Roy gets to play with Oden. What luck!

5:53 Look at Brandon Roy. What a guy. With Greg Oden, Brandon Roy's career arc takes him to Hall of Fame level. It all started right now.

5:54 Is Rashard Lewis gone from Seattle now? I say yes. Sign and trade maybe?

5:55 Fred Hickman: "it's a great day for all of these teams". Really? I'm pretty sure Memphis and Boston fans think it sucks.

5:57 Jon Barry suggests that the Blazers should trade the pick for veterans. Sounds like NBA GM material to me. The Sonics have an opening....

6:00 And now back to playoff basketball, and time to turn off the TV. Big day for the Pacific Northwest. Take that, East Coast bias!

David Stern Hates Us

David Stern hates NBA fans. That's the only logical conclusion that can be made after he 1) suspends two of the best players on the most fun to watch team in the NBA for essentially doing nothing at all, and 2) laughs and jokes about it afterwards.

When asked who was at fault, the Dictator Commish pointed his finger at the Phoenix Suns. It is Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw's fault they momentarily left the bench, then went back immediately. A momentary lapse of reason, rectified before any harm was done. For that, the series gets handed to San Antonio. That the Spurs nearly refused the tremendous gift of a road victory is beside the point: David Stern threw an important NBA series because he deemed it more important to enforce the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law.

And in response to valid criticism from Dan Patrick, he jokes about building a fence around the bench or hiring more assistant coaches to contain the players. Maybe a fence should be built around Mr. Stern's ego. Strict enforcement of a bad rule is not just, strong, or courageous. In fact, it is cowardly. The courageous act would be to bend the rule due to circumstances, after realizing that strict enforcement would essentially reward Robert Horry's cheap shot. Instead, Stern hides behind the rule and attempts to deflect blame to the players. Their crime? Being unable to contain their human emotions for about 3 seconds, during which time nothing happened. NBA fans may be gluttons for punishment, but we are not stupid enough to buy the Dic. Commish's grandstanding.

So who ultimately loses? We do. The fans. Even Spurs fans, who if they win a title will have it tainted by this controversy. Thanks, David Stern, for ruining and forever tainting what could have been an all-time great series. Some people will believe that you fixed the series, but the truth is that you don't give a damn who wins or loses as long as the league makes money. And you know all too well that for every hardcore American fan, who has followed the NBA since birth, that you lose due to shenanigans like this, there are three more European and Chinese fans ready to take their place. The NBA has gone global, which is why you don't care whether a franchise is in Seattle or Oklahoma City.

In the meantime, try to hide your contempt for the fans a little better.

Why Dallas Lost.

Much has been said about Dallas' horrific performance against Golden State in the first round of the NBA playoffs, but nothing much needs to be said. We can dissect whether or not Dirk Nowitzki is a true superstar or not, or whether Jason Terry is an adequate second fiddle, but none of that speaks to the heart of the matter. The bottom line is this: Golden State was the more confident team.

How did they get that confidence? Well, for one thing they beat Dallas twice during the regular season, once handily, going into their late-season matchup on April 17th. At that time, Golden State was fighting for their playoff lives while Dallas had clinched everything they wanted to clinch. So what happened? Avery Johnson rested his starters and Golden State thrashed them. The next day, Avery played his starters again in a mashing Oklahoma City Sonics, while Golden State throttled Portland to secure the 8th seed.

What a horrible mistake. First of all, Avery Johnson should have known from previous meetings that his team didn't matchup well with the Warriors, and further that Don Nelson would know his gameplan. Avery should have done everything he could to knock the Warriors out of the playoffs when they had the chance. Secondly, playing your starters the day after resting them against a possible playoff opponent is idiotic. What happened to sending a message? Forget about the fact that resting players before the playoffs is highly overrated, Avery essentially told Nelson's crew that he was afraid of them.

Then, as we all know, Avery changed his starting lineup before Game 1. Yes, the 67-win #1 seed changed to matchup against the barely-made-it-in 8th seed. The series was over at that point. Golden State had all the confidence it could ever need, and confidence is the single most valuable commodity in basketball. Does anyone think that Baron Davis makes so many shots without a fundamental confidence that his team was going to win? Or Matt Barnes would become a good NBA player? No chance.

Nowitzki did not step up like superstars sometimes do, but even superstars can't alone stem the tide of a confident team attacking them. The blame must fall on Avery Johnson for allowing the Warriors to gain that confidence in the first place. Coaches rarely win a series, but in this case a coach lost one.

UW Players in Trouble Again! Arrested!

University of Washington basketball player Artem Wallace was taken into police custody early Sunday morning on suspicion of being involved in a hit-and-run car accident on Alki Avenue.
Wallace, a 6-foot-8 reserve forward who recently completed his sophomore season at UW, was one of two suspects investigated and then released following an incident at around 1:30 a.m. Sunday. No charges have yet been filed.
A police report stated that a car hit a motorcyclist from behind on Alki Avenue SW. The motorcycle then hit a parked car and the rider fell off.
The vehicle that struck the motorcyclist sped off without stopping to render aid or exchange information, according to a witness quoted in the police report. The witness reported that the vehicle, a 1996 Acura Integra, then lost control about a block north and hit a parked car.
Witnesses described two men opening the trunk of the car and placing several items into a backpack, and putting the backpack in nearby bushes before running off. The backpack was later discovered, and contained several beers and bottles of alcohol, according to the report.
Two police officers arrived soon after the men left the scene of the accident and saw them running north on Alki. When the police officers got out of their car and ordered the two to stop, the pair continued to run before being caught and placed in custody.
The police report described both men as "extremely intoxicated."
Each denied driving the vehicle and none of the witnesses were able to see who had been driving, the report said. The suspects were taken to the Southwest Precinct, identified and released.
UW coach Lorenzo Romar was not available for comment this morning. UW officials said only that they knew of an incident involving Wallace and were still investigating.
Wallace has been primarily a reserve for UW the past two seasons but did start seven games, most coming at the midway point of last season. He averaged 2.4 points. He scored a career-high of 12 points in a loss at Arizona and finished the season with one of his best games, scoring 10 points in the Pac-10 Tournament loss to Washington State. Wallace graduated from Toledo High School after moving from Russia.

c'mon, everybody's got an evan

WUWS post 18 - live from the Derby

This is the best. If you are my friends, you will join Phil and i someday - 10 days notice or more!

Saw Jordan and entourage, and Starr Jones and pimp. Not winning shit, scratch horses are my uncle.

Infield is like a State Fair, even your Evan could get laid.

Mayweather in 10 rounds!

-Aquaman (and Aquachick)

The Big Fight you Hardly Care About

This Saturday I'll witness one of sports increasingly rare events. A championship boxing match will be held and on paper it actually looks worth the $49.99 that the cable company will charge. Floyd Mayweather (37-0, 24 knockouts) will put his undefeated record on the line against Oscar De La Hoya (38-4, 30 knockouts). Big deal you say? Let me try to explain why a championship boxing match is unlike any other sporting event out there.

First of all there's the one on one aspect of boxing. This is something none of the major sports offer. Inside the ring there are no teammates to count on if you're having an off night. There isn't a coach to call timeout if the opponent starts landing a flurry of punches. It's simply one man against another man with nowhere to hide. The one on one nature can also have an influence on who you end up rooting for. As a fighters career progresses you learn their personalities as well as their fighting styles. Do you root for the quiet, determined fighter with the straight ahead style? Maybe you like the brash youngster with a huge punch. Perhaps you hate the slick defensive master with the cocky attitude. Once you choose a side with a fighter it's hard to go back.

The second thing that's hard to explain to non fans is the tension that builds up during a big fight. In other sports, the game ends only after the clock runs out or the last out is recorded. Obviously in boxing the match will end after 12 rounds, but during the fight there is always the looming specter of "the big punch." The fighter you're cheering for can be comfortably winning the fight but if he lets his guard down for just a second he can find himself on the losing end of a left hook. In the best matches, you feel your stomach in knots as the fight works it's way from the early stages on to the championship rounds. The big punch changes the complexion of the fight instantly in a way that a fourth inning homerun or 3rd quarter interception just can't.

Finally you have the release of emotion when there is a knockdown or knockout. All the tension that is built up finally gets a release and when it's your guy doing the ass kicking it's one of the best feelings sports has to offer. The closest thing to this is soccer at its highest levels.

So, who is going to win on Saturday? De La Hoya's big advantage is supposed to be his size. Mayweather is moving up to 154 pounds for this fight. Both fighters started their careers at 130 so size advantage may not be a huge factor. De La Hoya has fought at 154 for a longer time so he may be the more comfortable of the two at that weight. Mayweather's big advantage is his speed and boxing skill. De La Hoya is a great boxer as well but Mayweather is special and is generally acknowledged as the best pound for pound fighter in the game. Mayweather doesn't have the same power he used to as a lightweight and welterweight but he doesn't appear to have lost his speed. My guess is that the fight will go the distance. I expect Mayweather to use his speed to keep from getting hit by too many De La Hoya shots. Oscar will have his moments if he can hit Mayweather, but in the end Mayweather should prove to be too good. I'm thinking Mayweather wins a unanimous decision but it'll be close with scores coming in the 116-112 and 115-113 range.