Posts from — April 2012

Our daily thread.
We understand the NBA suspending Rajon Rondo for 1 game for bumping official Marc Davis. There is no excuse for it despite Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce and Charles Barkley, among others, offering them. He tripped? No shit Sherlock?
But shouldn’t Davis receive a time out or 2 for his awful officiating and missing calls, particularly the 1 that lead to the incident?
Boston Globe
Timing seems suspicious to us: Laker reserve Jordan Hill was charged with choking his ex-girlfriend, an alleged incident that occurred 2 months ago. Surely the DA’s office in Houston wouldn’t be guilty of a little grandstanding, no? Didn’t think so.
ESPN LA
Addition by subtraction: No offense to Caron, but with Butler out with a broken hand, Nick Young, who was instrumental in the Clip Joint’s huge rally Sunday night and 1 of its top performers the past month, will see an increase in minutes.
ESPN.com
What about Paul?: Who would have guessed this? Paul Silas not returning to the Bobcats as head coach? What’s the problem?
Charlotte Observer
Panic? Not Albert: Any and almost everyone connected with the Angels these days are tight under the collar. But just because Albert Pujols hasn’t hit a homer this month (don’t panic Albert, but today is the last day) doesn’t mean anything to him. Pujols and the Angels host the Twinkies tonight.
Fox Sports

Would we have heard about this had they lost? Didn’t think so.
The rumor mill is jumping about how Floyd Mayweather dropped $1.8 million for the Clip Joint to cover as a 6-point underdog in Sunday’s 99-98 win over the Grizzlies. As we all know now, they were down by as much as 27 and trailed by 24 with 8 minutes remaining before rallying for 1 of the most stunning comebacks in NBA history.
Black Sports Online

I must have been 9 or 10 when the white ribbon I earned at the 4-H Club boys dress review embarrassed me to no end. Blue was the high standard by which all others were compared, with red representing runner-up. It was OK if you’re scored a red. That meant you were at least decent. White? You could have left your house in pajamas and scored higher.
I had no clue what to wear on this faithful day. Still, I wanted to decide on my own. My Mom, bless her soul, had no clue I would be judged on my outfit since I failed to tell her. All she knew was I had entered this tacky woodwork project in one of the contests. Had she known about the dress contest, no way I leave with what I had on.
She wished me luck, but the project didn’t fare much better than the crap I wore. Mom had no idea the wrinkled jeans, no belt and whatever shirt I grabbed out of the hamper would make me infamous with the other poor saps who also had no fashion sense. I didn’t tell her later either.
I still hear the girls from my school laughing. Initially, I wondered what they were laughing about until they kept sneaking looks, sometimes pointing, at me and my white ribbon. I was too stupid to know I could have taken it off and spared myself the ridicule.
And oh the hair. If there’s 1 thing my son has inherited, besides his good looks, its my frequent habit of not combing my hair as kid. Now, though, it’s stylish for kids’ hair to look as rough as Chris Webber’s. I like it, too. Imagine that.
Worst for me, the shirt was tucked in for all to see of my beltless fashion statement. I still cringe thinking how awful I looked. The good part, though, is it scarred me enough to develop a decent taste in clothes and how to dress over the years.
Which brings us to the NFL Draft. Depending on your taste, this show of runway outfits produced some fashionable and not-so-fashionable styles that made and didn’t make the men.
The rest of the story from Pulitzer Prize winner Wesley Morris.
Grantland.com

Clippers 99, Grizzlies 98.
Not to burst Dick Stockton’s bubble, but we’ve seen better comebacks with more on the line. Stockton, who worked the game with Chris Webber, said he had never seen a comeback in the NBA playoffs like the 1 the Clippers mounted against the Grizzlies Sunday night in Memphis. Webber never said anything, but he surely had to be thinking about how the Lakers rallied from 24 down to beat his Kings as Robert Horry nailed a his famous 3-pointer at the buzzer in the 2002 Western Conference finals. The Kings haven’t been the same since.
In this classic, the Clip Joint rallied from 27 back as the Grizzlies were giving a clinic. They led by as much as 24 with 8 minutes left before the bottom fell out. Nick Young’s 3-pointers down the stretch inflicted the most damage.
Game 2 is Wednesday in Memphis.

By moving up to take lockdown corner Morris Claiborn, who could spell weak-ass Mike Jenkins, the Cowboys graded out among the best in the NFL Draft.
Sporting News

Andrew Bynum’s hot line: 10 points (on 5 of 7 shooting), 13 rebounds and 10 blocks in the Lakers 103-88 beatdown of the Nuggets in Game 1 of NBA playoffs.

Tampa Bay closer Fernando Rodney, who the Angels showed little patience with, has 6 saves without a blown 1. That’s 1 short of the Angels win total.

Unless you’re a Mavs’ fan, Kevin Durant’s game-winning bucket provided the climax of 1 of the best games of the NBA playoffs on Saturday night in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder took a 1-0 lead in their series against the defending champs.
NewsOK.com
The low point: Regardless of who you’re a fan of, Derrick Rose going down with a torn ACL was a bummer. But is it fair to blame Tom Thibodeau?
Sun-Times

And so did “Bad” Chad Dawson. Bernard Hopkins used some of the dirty tactics that have allowed him to last as along as he has in the game, but Dawson was too much in a lopsided decision (1 judge didn’t see the fight everyone else was watching).

No MLB player is hotter than Matt Kemp. The centefielder delivered again tonight, busting Tom Gorzelanny for his game-winning homer, in the 10th inning of the Dodgers 4-3 win over the Nats. Kemp’s 11th homer this month upstaged the debut of Bryce Harper.
AP