NBA Rookie Of The Year

Portland Trailblazers center, Greg Oden, finally gets back on the court and looks to make good this season on the promise he showed 2 years ago when he was drafted #1 after his freshman season at Ohio State. Remember when media types were talking about the dearth of quality young big men in the league after Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, and Hakeem Olajuwan retired? Well I think Oden represents the new group of center domination that we are likely to see for the next 15 years, with the likes of Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum. These three players have superstar written all over them. One level down there are players like Andrew Bogut, Al Horford, and Al Jefferson, who will all be All Stars, but not Hall of Fame caliber guys. Overall, this is an exciting time once again for fans of the big men in the NBA. There are still holdovers like Shaq, Yao Ming, Tim Duncan, Tyson Chandler, and Rasheed Wallace, that are at varying times in their career, but no center conversation can be made without them. This is going to be a great season in the paint.

Brett Favre Takes His Act To Broadway

TODAYS TOP STORIES

• Brett Favre headed to Tampa Bay? Maybe by the end of the day.
  
• Dan Marino to go Dancing With The Stars. As a Dolphins fan I always dreamed of the day that Marino would throw on the uniform and compete again, but I never thought it would be tights and a too too. Marino was never known for his fancy feet so it should be quite interesting to see how he is out there dancing. (Sun-Sentinal)
• OJ's time and co-defendants are running out. (Deadspin)

Team USA Making Their Presence Felt In Beijing

They have not been in Beijing for more than a week and already Team USA is wreaking havoc.

[W]ith their first game — against the host country — approaching this Saturday, the local papers are already ganging up on Team USA. That is to say: They’re accusing stars LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade of soliciting prostitutes. Well, not prostitutes exactly — “female technicians.”(New York Magazine)

I love the term "female technicians". It makes it sound like these girls have come over and helped these guys with their wi-fi connections and iPhone's, but in reality these girls are 'technicians' in the bedroom. I knew lots of guys in college who would brag about themselves being 'technicians,' but I doubt they ever thought they could get paid for making that claim. Let's wait and see if more reports of this comes out before we believe it.

Summer Movie Fun

From the comedy team that brought you ____ and ___ comes the buddy flick that is perfect for people of all ages.

TODAYS TOP STORIES

• Paul Pierce and I have so much in common. We both like to abandon our cars and take taxi's when we are not drunk. After passing three DUI tests, he decided driving was just too much for him. (TMZ)
• Sign of the Armagedeon: David Beckham is now a bigger deal than Eli Manning. (IMDB)
• Brett Farve is officially the most qualified backup QB ever. (Sports Illustrated)
• Bill Belicheck Sex Tape????? (JoeSportsFan)
• I hope Mark Cuban becomes the owner of the Cubs, so we can have year round Cuban news. (Deadspin)
  

SHARKTRUTH.JAWS???? WTF

What is going on here? Someone has too much time on their hands. Is this real? If so I am outraged, I love sharks and PETA should do something about this. Save the sharks. In a world with no sharks, who will star in the next Jaws.
Let's get to the bottom of this.

MJ Treating Campers Like They Are Byron Russel

What? Someone Other Than Me Is Still Watching Shawn Kemp Highlight Films?

Rumor has it that a pro team in Italy is trying to woo former NBA All Star Shawn Kemp overseas to play basketball again. Kemp who has not played since the 2002-03 season, is far from his days of high flying dunks, but you can't blame the team for trying to capitalize on his past.
Here is a great highlight tape of Shawn Kemp at his best:

I Have A Feeling We Are Going To Love Ron Artest In Houston

If you go back to the brawl, that's a culture issue right there. Somebody was disrespecting me, so he's got to understand where I'm coming from. People that know me know that Ron Artest never changed.

--Ron Artest in response to his new teammate, Yao Ming's, comments on about Artest's history with fighting. It is amazing that this guy still has no remorse for going into the stands after a fan and inciting a brawl. This is the same brawl that lead to him being suspended for the remainder of the season (73 games plus playoff appearances). This is the longest non-substance or gambling related suspension in NBA history. Eight other players (four Pacers and four Pistons) received suspensions, without pay, that ranged from one to thirty games in length. Each of the Pacers players involved were levied fines and ordered to do community service. Several fans were also charged and were barred from attending any events at the Palace for life. Artest lost approximately $5 million in salary due to the suspension.

Looks like Artest has nothing to feel bad about there.

Hopefully, [Artest isn't] fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands.

--Yao Ming

Talk About It: The Best Of Year One

It's SUMMER TIME and it's too hot to talk sports, although it doesn't seem too hot for A-Rod to bang another man-woman. The Talk About It Idiots are on summer hiatus but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy some past TAI fun. We've put together a best of clip to help you along. Jackie and Tim play "Colorado Rockie, Arizona Diamondback or member of George W. Bush's cabinet," talk fat people and running, Tim cries about the Dolphins, the idiots visit the Sports Psychic, talk to a broadcasting legend and play exclusive audio of Tony LaRussa sleeping off a night of drinking in his car.
(Click Here To Listen)

Is Jeff Kent teamates with Hideki Matsui?

What a dick Jeff Kent is. The guy won't even look at porn with his teamates:

I don't hang out with the guys — never have. I don't go out drinking, look at porn, have a girlfriend or get divorced — so I'm selfish. (LA TIMES)

NBA Notes (WEDNESDAY)

Seems like yesterday I was talking about the lack of big moves in the NBA, while also preaching about the impact that the smaller moves will have on the upcoming season, and here we are today with a big name changing teams.

• Ron Artest was acquired last night by the Houston Rockets for Bobby Jackson, Donte Greene, a future first round pick, and 1 million dollars in cash. Artest is a difference maker who will immediately make the Rockets one of the top teams in the Western Conference. This is the same Rockets team that had a 22 game winning streak last season without him and without Yao for most of it. ESPN's John Hollinger reports that the Rockets are going to attempt to play Artest at power forward in a starting lineup with Yao, Shane Battier, Tracy McGrady, and Raefer Alston. That is as strong a lineup as there is in the league, and they have a very good bench led by Luis Scola, Brent Barry, and Luther Head. The Rockets were one of the best defensive teams in the league last season, but had trouble at times scoring the basketball. We all know that Artest is mostly known for his defense, but the guy is a career 16ppg guy, and that will help alleviate the pressure on McGrady and Yao to carry the load. Every team would love to have a guy like Artest be their third option on offense. He can score inside and out and will demand double teams on the block, which will allow their three point shooters to flourish. It will be interesting to see how he handles covering the power forwards on nightly basis, but he is strong and crafty, which is what you need to succeed down there, and he also has Yao behind him to block shots. Artest, Battier, and McGrady are all versatile defenders who can switch up depending on the match up, so maybe it will not be an issue at all. Any Artest conversation has to include his well documented personal history, which has been shaky his whole career. Will he keep himself in line all season? Who knows, but the Rockets have two things going for them, he has a great history with Rick Adelman, and he is in a contract season and looking for a long term deal from some team. These are strong factors, but who knows with him if they are enough to keep him from straying. For the time being, the Rockets put themselves over night into the conversation with the Lakers, Spurs, and Hornets as the top squad in the West. Artest brings the toughness that was arguably the missing ingredient for the Rockets. Will the get past the first round finally? Stay tuned.
• The Chicago Bulls have verbally agreed to a 6 year, 71 million dollar deal with restricted free agent Luol Deng. Deng, 23 years old, is a key piece to the future of the Bulls and they could not afford to see him go anywhere else. He is developing into the teams go to scorer and they believe that he will flourish alongside rookie point guard Derrick Rose. Rose will push the tempo and Deng will get a ton of easy looks on the wing because of it. Is this the year Deng makes good on his talent and becomes an all star? The money they are paying him sure makes it sound like the Bulls believe so. Now the team can turn their attention to their other restricted free agent, Ben Gordon.
• Bye Bye Nets and hello Moscow. Nenad Kristic we hardly knew ya!

NBA NOTES (TUESDAY)

Just when you thought that the NBA Off season was going to slow down we get a flurry of activity like we have had over the last few weeks. Now there have been no big moves like earlier in the off season when we had Elton Brand and Baron Davis switching up teams, but there have been some smaller moves that should not go unnoticed.

• Baron Davis's new Clippers team has not sat still since his addition by also adding Marcus Camby and Ricky Davis. Camby was stolen from the Nuggets for some 2nd round picks, and while he will not give you the offense that they lost when Elton Brand left, he will provide rebounding and shot blocking. Camby is not a great on ball defender, but he is one of the best weak side help defenders in the league. It was only two seasons ago that he was hoisting the defensive player of the year trophy, so expect good things in that regard. One of the reasons that Camby's numbers could rise is newly acquired swingman Ricky Davis. Davis is a defensive nightmare for both his squad and opposing teams. He can get you 15 points just as easily as he can give it up. His second go around with the Heat further showed his inability to take coaching. He was never an attitude issue, but the guy could not stay within the offense at all. Coach Dunleavy will have his hands full trying to get both Davis's to play with any structure, but if he can do so, this team could be dangerous. Chris Kaman and Al Thorton are two young studs who will benefit strongly from Baron and Camby's veteran leadership, and this should allow the team to sneak up on some people. Look for the team to put up high scoring marks night in and night out.
  
• The Charlotte Bobcats reached a six-year contract worth at least $72 million with restricted free agent Emeka Okafor. That is a lot of money for a guy who only averaged 13 points per game, but Okafor's real strength is his shot blocking and rebounding. The Bobcats did the right thing in keeping him on the squad, because they could not afford to lose him, with the lack of depth they have in the frontcourt. If they could ever find a big man to place alongside Okafor that could score the Bobcats would be very good. Nazr Mohammed and Sean May are not the answer up front, so maybe they could try to utilize Raymond Felton in a trade for someone like Zach Randolph. Coach Larry Brown might be a bad fit with Randolph, but he did make it work with Rasheed Wallace in Detroit so I would not think it is out of the question.
• Speaking of Detroit, by adding Kwame Brown to their squad they shore up their depth in the frontcourt. They needed a young replacement for Theo Ratliff who can come in and give them some quality minutes. Brown will forever be associated with the word "bust", cause he was a picked #1 in the 2001 draft, yet he is a solid addition to a veteran team like the Pistons that suffered in the playoffs against the Celtics size and length.
• Their seems to be a trend out there in the NBA to get longer in the frontcourt, after seeing what the Celtics trio of Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, and PJ Brown did in the Finals to the Lakers combo of Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. It is a copycat league, so look for more teams to try this model, if they can, while the others will settle for the small ball approach that the Suns employed for so long.
  

Fight Night at the Minor League Park