Blake Griffin to NBA…RIP Oklahoma

Following one of the most dominate college performances since Carmelo Anthony took Syracuse to the promised land Blake Griffin has officially, and to no one’s surprise, declared for the NBA Draft.

Griffin announced his decision Tuesday at a campus news conference alongside coach Jeff Capel, saying it was time to take his game to the next level. Griffin helped the Sooners win 30 games in a season for only the fifth time in school history, shattering the school records for double-doubles and rebounds along the way.

It was fun to watch him in College here’s to hoping he lands in the Bay Area.

Giants Opening Day – A Cause for Hope

Opening Day is looming large here in San Francisco. On Tuesday our beloved Giants will take the field the same as they have since 1883.  Good or bad, the throngs will turn out to revel in the pregame debauchery flooding into the myriad of local eateries and pubs surrounding that the park including: Acme Chophouse, Tres Agaves, 21st Amendment, Paragon and my favorite Momo’s (which by the way yours truly will be gracing and signing copies of my website).

Like many of the faithful (or if you work for the Giants Marketing team the “gamers”) look at this year with hope and trepidation.  Hope that we can finally turn the corner and trepidation that this will be a record 5 straight losing seasons.  Only twice in the clubs storied history have we endured 4 straight losing seasons once from 1899 to 1902 & again from 1974 to 1977 but never have we crossed the dreaded 5 straight losing season threshold.  With young stars like Pablo Sandoval, Travis Ishiwhatever, & Fred Lewis peppering our lineup there’s cause for hope and maybe even justification for optimism – I feel like I’m selling a bailout plan.

There’s something in the air this year.  Something is different about the Giants.  We’ve turned into a sexy pick, a mystical team that contains unknown quantities in Pablo Sandoval, Alex Hinshaw, Jonathan Sanchez and Travis Ishikawa.  A team that possess The Freak, The Big Unit, a solid, proven closer in Brian Wilson and the neverending Barry Zito saga.  By the way I’m sick of Zito.  I’m tired of being upset when I look at him.  You know that feeling you get when someone catches you picking your nose and wiping it on their chair – I’m sick of that. Let’s face it the Giants are interesting.  Now this could all change the moment they drop 5 straight but right now they’re as interesting as the Bears v. Broncos matchup this upcoming season.

Can we expect 20 wins this year? We’re going to need them.

Maybe that something in the air is the hope I hold for our Gyros to score more than two runs per outting and hope for Cain to finally get some run support. Hope that Benji’s knees can take 162 games. Hope for Barry Zito to finally earn that paycheck OR give some of it back in a free beer night (eh – you know that would solve all his problems and win him the undying love of many of the “gamers.”) Hope that the NL West continues to rule the roost as the worst division in the majors.  Hope that Man Ram finally blows up in LA and replicates his pathetic, childish antics that preceded his exit from Boston.

Maybe I’m optimistic because this year the Giants rank lucky number 13 in overall team salary with two mediocre pitchers collectively pulling in just under $30 million.  If these two, former, Cy Young Winners can manage to collectively win 25 games I will personally streak the length of the outfield in a George Costanza styled body suit.

The Giants now boast a legitimate #1 and possess some (admittedly I’m playing fast and loose with the word some) power in the lineup.  Don’t believe me? Check out Sandoval’s Youtube highlight below where he won the Venezuelan Home Run Derby.  He beat some guy name Miguel Cabera. Still don’t believe me?  Travis Ishikowa hit 7 dingers in Spring Training, then again so did two guys from Kansas City.  Better yet Zito, yeah him (sigh), looked decent this spring in Arizona.

So as our friends at GM say, “let’s put on our rally caps and dig in,” maybe the Giants can get a government bailout on Zito’s contract? You got a better place to spend Tuesday afternoon?

Here’s to the hope of a winning season…Humm Baby! Oh yeah and BEAT LA!

Anthony Randolph Cometh

Anthony Randolph has quietly become one of the NBA’s most exciting and dynamic rookies.  He’s gone unnoticed in large part because he plays for the lowly Golden State Warriors and his coach seems to be conspiring to ruin his already fragile psyche. Randolph is 6’10″ with hops and handles.  On just about any other team (save Boston and the Lakers) Randolph would at least garner 30-35 minutes a game.  Playing under Nelson, who disdains rookies, his playing time has no correlation to his skill or better yet potential.

It’s getting to the point where I almost want to see him traded so I can at least watch him play for a team that values his unlimited potential.

Bill Simmons, in his recent mail bag, has even taken notice of Randolph’s prolific skills. “He’s one of the most breathtaking rookies I’ve seen in person — ever — for all the reasons you just described. There has never been anyone quite like him. He’s like a cross between Josh Smith and Lamar Odom, only if you fed him 10 Red Bulls and told him right before the game, “If you can make 10 things happen during the 10 minutes you play tonight, we will quadruple your salary and you will start for the rest of the season” … and then he does just that, but the coach reneges on the promise so Anthony has a near-crying meltdown on the bench. That’s every Anthony Randolph game. I caught him once and, in the span of two hours, he made three “MY GOD!” plays and broke down on the Warriors’ bench because Nellie wouldn’t put him back in, followed by an assistant consoling him through an entire timeout like Randolph was a third grader who got in trouble for something he didn’t do, then had a meltdown and got kicked out of class. It was riveting. The odds of me missing another Clips-Warriors game for the next five years are 10,000-to-1.”

Hog Wars

It’s a slow day here at Madness however I ran across this gem on YouTube.  Allow me the distinct pleasure of introducing Hog Wars: hunting for wild pigs via a helicopter. America is rad.  This sport is now being legalized is Texas as the wild pigs are reeking havoc in local neighborhoods.

“A state lawmaker is proposing to allow ordinary Texans with rifles and shotguns to shoot the voracious, tusked animals from helicopters.” I just booked a weekend trip to Dallas….watch out wilbur I’m coming.

NFL’s Franchise Tag = Indentured Servitude?

Is the NFL’s Franchise Tag modern day indentured servitude?  Wikipedia defines the NFL’s Franchise tag as follows: “In the National Football League, the franchise tag is a designation a team may apply to a player scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. The tag binds the player to the team for one year if certain conditions are met. Each team has access each year to only one franchise tag (of either the exclusive or non-exclusive forms) or one transition tag. As a result, each team may only designate one player each year as that team’s franchise player. Usually reserved for players of great skill or of high importance to the team, a franchise tag allows a team’s manager the privilege of strategically retaining valuable free-agent players while seeking talent through the NFL draft or other acquisitions without exceeding the League’s salary cap.”

Sports by Brooks broke an article today about the fact that NFL teams are using these Franchise tags as a way to control their salary cap and now it’s theorized that NFL players are going to great lengths to avoid these tags.

Enter Leroy Hill of the Seattle Seachickens.  “The Seahawks’ Leroy Hill, who was cited for misdemeanor pot possession last month when he was pulled over in suburban Atlanta for having a busted brakelight in his 1975 Buick Electra. That’s right, Leroy was rolling in a busted-up Electra. Some folks are calling shenanigans…The idea here is that the Seahawks, who have professed a commitment only to “character” guys, won’t want to keep a guy getting pulled over with drugs, and they certainly won’t want to franchise him. Hill, then, would get to become a free agent and negotiate a long-term deal with any team he wants. So he basically drives around with the busted light and a little pot in a bookbag (I guess he’s taking a physics class in the offseason?) and waits to get pulled over.”

So the question is, is Leroy Hill an idiot or a genious and is the NFL’s Franchise Tag fair? I would assume that the NFL’s powerful labor union would be all over this if the franchise tag was illegal or unfair in terms of labor laws.  It’s hard to say this is a form of servitude after all they’re still making a ton of money and the fame that accompanies playing in the NFL however they are not getting true market value for their services.

Massive High School Basketball Brawl

Please don’t let this influence your opinion of Alabama, I’m sure it’s very nice.

NBA Slam Dunk Competition High Compilation

With the NBA AllStar Game and Slam Dunk competition looming over the weekend like Jordan’s will to win over his opponents I have collected some of the best highlights from Dunk Competitions of years  past.   Hopefully this years is as good as last years performance by Dwight Howard.

Question is who is the best? MJ, Nate Robinson, Dominique Wilkins, Spud Webb, Dwight Howard? You be the judge.

Jordan and Wilkins

Nate Robinson’s highlights from the 2006 Slam Dunk contest he won.

Spud Webb

Dwight Howards now infamous Superman dunk

Randy Moller’s Hilarious Goal Calls

White Noise passed on this gem.

It’s a compliation video of sound clips from Randy Moller’s NHL broadcasts for the Florida Panthers.

Here’s a taste: “Fires he scores! LA face with an Oakland Booty…..Right out in front, he shots, he scores! Make me a bicycle clown!”

NY Giants Fan’s are Pathetic

I know this might be a little old but still worth a look and a laugh.  Hasn’t somebody told this kid there’s no crying in football?

“This game is why I live.”

Perfect Irony

Kellogs, yeah the maker of Rice Krispy treats, is dropping Michael Phelps over the, now infamous, pot photo.

Really?

Phelps loves the ganja cakes, they’re grrrrrrrreat!

USA Swimming has also come out against the Olympian suspending him 3 months. There’s a bright idea.  Give a stoner a reason not to do anything.