NBA DRAFT - Knick fans, are you happy?

No big surprises happened. Portland didn't mess this thing up and not take Oden. The huge trades that were talked about involving Amare, J. O'Neal, Kobe or KG didn't happen either. A few teams showed they know what they're doing and Danny Ainge proved once again he should have no part of a front office job and Paul Allen proved again that he's the richest mofo in the room by spending about $9M last night in buying draft picks from multiple teams. I think this is going to go down as one of the deepest drafts in years, maybe one of the best of all time. Although I'm not a fan of his, Dick Vitale agrees. That's saying a lot since there were 4 franchise players chosen in the 2003 in Lebron, 'Melo, Wade and Bosh.

First let's see about the Knicks draft and their trade that jettisoned Steve Francis' contract and Channing Frye to Portland for Zac Randolph, Dan Dickau and Fred Jones. At first glance, talent-wise, the Knicks fleeced the Blazers. I think Portland should have been a little more patient. The Blazers were originally in talks with the Nets in a trade for Richard Jefferson and then settled for Channing Frye, they should have held out for Marcus Williams and a bad contract for Randolph. With this trade, this means the team now has Aldridge, Frye and Josh McRoberts at the 4 on that team. I never knew this before he came to New York but, Francis has an incredibly low basketball IQ. I would think that Portland doesn't want this guy leading that young team on the court. If Zac Randolph can stay out of trouble and get along with his teammates, this should be good for the Knicks, but those are two big if's. He has enough range on his "J" to compliment Curry and can take over the offense from time to time. More importantly, does this open the door for a trade for Kobe like the one I proposed before? Curry, Balkman and Crawford for Kobe?

Has anyone seen Wilson Chandler play before? I haven't. I don't know if the "experts" are afraid to bash Isiah since he has shown that he knows how to pick players in the draft, but they were high on Chandler last night. Jay Bilas was saying how this guys game is made for the pros and that he should be better in the pros than college. Later that night, the Knicks traded 2008's 2nd round pick to Portland for the 2nd rounder this year in Demetris Nichols of Syracuse. He's a pure shooter who was lighting it up in pre-draft camps and may be able to stick on the team because of his stroke. Unfortunately, he doesn't have much else.

What is Danny Ainge thinking? IS he thinking? Ray Allen for Jeff Green (who I love), Wally World and Delonte West? So they can squeak into the second round of the playoffs for one year? Ainge just made the West look even better for the next 10 years. I think Green will be the perfect complimentary player for Durant and he could have been that for Pierce and Jefferson. How does Ainge still have a job exactly? Everyone bashes Isiah but THIS guy gets a pass? When he started they had just come off of consecutive runs to the Eastern Conference Finals. Now they just stink. I'm glad Ainge sucks at his job though or i'd be real mad.

The Bulls made it easy to keep hating them deep into the next decade by selecting Joakim Noah. I thought this was a bad pick for them. Don't they already have athletic guys with no offensive game to speak of in Big Ben and Tyrus Thomas? They should have taken Spencer Hawes. With Big Ben and Thomas, they would have had defensive players that would have been able to cover up Hawes' deficiencies. Paxon has done a great job building that team but I don't think that Joakim "I'm a big punk" Noah will be much good in the NBA and especially on that team.

Detroit made a nice pick with Stuckey. He can play both guard spots and can score. And thankfully for Ed, it looks like they'll be holding onto Chauncey.

Don Nelson continued his love affair with foreign players by picking Marco Belinelli of Italy. Later that evening Michael Jordan traded Brandan Wright to GS for Jason Richardson. Luckily for MJ he's probably the greatest player of all time because right now he's looking more Danny Ainge in the front office. Why would he trade for Richardson at this point in his career for a team building from scratch? Charlotte is not one player away at this stage of their franchise.

Atlanta picked up yet ANOTHER PF in young Dominican, Al Horford who I think is going to be a stud. I think they should have picked up Mike Conley, but they made up for it when they picked up Acie Law who reminds me of Sam Cassel. He's got that old school game and he is clutch do this might work out for them after all. I'm going to like seeing Law play alongside Joe Johnson. What do they do now with Shelden Williams?

Do you guys think any other trades are going to happen?

CIA to Air Decades of It's Dirty Laundry

Our friend, and new Father, Colin brought this article to our attention. I posted the first page of the article on here, for the rest click on the link just below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/21/AR2007062102434.html

CIA to Air Decades of Its Dirty Laundry

Assassination Attempts Among Abuses Detailed

By Karen DeYoung and Walter Pincus

Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 22, 2007; Page A01

The CIA will declassify hundreds of pages of long-secret records detailing some of the intelligence agency's worst illegal abuses -- the so-called "family jewels" documenting a quarter-century of overseas assassination attempts, domestic spying, kidnapping and infiltration of leftist groups from the 1950s to the 1970s, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said yesterday.

The documents, to be publicly released next week, also include accounts of break-ins and theft, the agency's opening of private mail to and from China and the Soviet Union, wiretaps and surveillance of journalists, and a series of "unwitting" tests on U.S. civilians, including the use of drugs.

Graphic 'Skeletons' Intelligence CIA Releases Files On Past Misdeeds A View From Watergate:The Keeper of Secrets Earned His Reputation Fighting War Protesters Judge Discusses Details of Work On Secret Court The Unseen Path to Cruelty More Stories Who's Blogging? Read what bloggers are saying about this article. Buck Naked Politics Buck Naked Politics On Deadline - USATODAY.com Full List of Blogs (191 links) » Most Blogged About Articles On washingtonpost.com | On the web Save & Share Article What's This? Digg Google del.icio.us Yahoo! Reddit Facebook

"Most of it is unflattering, but it is CIA's history," Hayden said in a speech to a conference of foreign policy historians. The documents have been sought for decades by historians, journalists and conspiracy theorists and have been the subject of many fruitless Freedom of Information Act requests.

In anticipation of the CIA's release, the National Security Archive at George Washington University yesterday published a separate set of documents from January 1975 detailing internal government discussions of the abuses. Those documents portray a rising sense of panic within the administration of President Gerald R. Ford that what then-CIA Director William E. Colby called "skeletons" in the CIA's closet had begun to be revealed in news accounts.

A New York Times article by reporter Seymour Hersh about the CIA's infiltration of antiwar groups, published in December 1974, was "just the tip of the iceberg," then-Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger warned Ford, according to a Jan. 3 memorandum of their conversation.

Kissinger warned that if other operations were divulged, "blood will flow," saying, "For example, Robert Kennedy personally managed the operation on the assassination of [Cuban President Fidel] Castro." Kennedy was the attorney general from 1961 to 1964.

Worried that the disclosures could lead to criminal prosecutions, Kissinger added that "when the FBI has a hunting license into the CIA, this could end up worse for the country than Watergate," the scandal that led to the fall of the Nixon administration the previous year.

In a meeting at which Colby detailed the worst abuses -- after telling the president "we have a 25-year old institution which has done some things it shouldn't have" -- Ford said he would appoint a presidential commission to look into the matter. "We don't want to destroy but to preserve the CIA. But we want to make sure that illegal operations and those outside the [CIA] charter don't happen," Ford said.

Most of the major incidents and operations in the reports to be released next week were revealed in varying detail during congressional investigations that led to widespread intelligence reforms and increased oversight. But the treasure-trove of CIA documents, generated as the Vietnam War wound down and agency involvement in Nixon's "dirty tricks" political campaign began to be revealed, is expected to provide far more comprehensive accounts, written by the agency itself.

The reports, known collectively by historians and CIA officials as the "family jewels," were initially produced in response to a 1973 request by then-CIA Director James R. Schlesinger. Alarmed by press accounts of CIA involvement in Watergate under his predecessor, Schlesinger asked the agency's employees to inform him of all operations that were "outside" the agency's legal charter.

This process was unprecedented at the agency, where only a few officials had previously been privy to the scope of its illegal activities. Schlesinger collected the reports, some of which dated to the 1950s, in a folder that was inherited by his successor, Colby, in September of that year.

But it was not until Hersh's article that Colby took the file to the White House. The National Security Archive release included a six-page summary of a conversation on Jan. 3, 1975, in which Colby briefed the Justice Department for the first time on the extent of the "skeletons."

Must See Documentary on Hip-Hop

Guys, i'm not sure if you have all heard about this documentary, but you have to see this. It's called, "Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes". It's about an hour long and its made by a brother that's a lot like us: He's about 30, grew up loving hip-hop and doesn't like what he's been hearing on the airwaves. Byron Hurt wrote and directed this piece that has played at a number of film festivals and it is outstanding. While he loves hip-hop to this day, he exposes it for what the mainstream of hip-hop has become: overly misogynistic and advocating violence against your fellow brother. We know that there are a lot of rappers out there that aren't all about dehumanizing women and violence, but they don't get the promotion and airplay that the Lil' John's and Lil' Wayne's of this world receive. Have you ever asked yourself why? I know all of you and feel you would love this documentary. We should view this at one of our movie club dates. For everybody else, please support this film.

Here's the official website:

www.bhurt.com

NBA Draft - Who's going where?

With the NBA draft coming this Thursday, I thought we could start a little something on the draft. Now, I know that the NBA Draft does not generate the same amount of hoopla that the NFL draft does, but I love it. Does anyone know or want anything in particular to happen for their team on draft night? Portland will definitely take Oden right? They don't make another Bowie pick right? I do think that Durant is going to be a real player in the league. He's got that killer instinct that we've seen many a talented player not have. Knick fans, does Allan Houston ring a bell? For that matter, Curry has to develop that attitude himself. He's got the physical talent for sure, but he's got to develop that attitude that he wants to completely dominate the paint. Durant has that attitude already and he's incredibly talented.

What do you think your team needs? And, going further, who do you think they should draft at their position in the draft? I, personally, think the Knicks need a shooter. I'm hoping for Morris Almond from Rice. I saw him play twice last season and his shooting stroke is smooth like butter. The Knicks need a legit, consistent outside shooter. As streaky as Crawford is from the outside, and we know how much Ed dislikes him, after he went down teams completely collapsed on Curry and made it impossible for him to operate in the paint. So I think Almond would be a good choice. He shot over 45% from 3pt. range last year as his teams number one option and teams draped all over him.

There's a rumor that the Knicks have made a promise to DePaul SF Wilson Chandler. He's been canceling workouts left and right which you never see a guy do when he's on the first round "bubble". If the Knicks didn't make a promise to him, someone must have or else thig uy is crazy. I've never seen the guy play, but I trust Isiah's ability to pick talent from anywhere in the draft. Has anyone seen this guy play? Please tell me good things. Isiah was also rumored to be hot for PF/C Sean Williams from Boston College. He's a big time shot blocker and rebounder whose stock has dropped due to being kicked off his team for marijuana use. It looks like the Nets are going to take him though since they need more big man help than anyone else in this draft. For that matter, they should try and trade for Kurt Thomas.

What do you think the Pistons need Ed? They have two picks in the first round and I think this draft is going to be pretty deep. I really think if a team has a 2nd round pick they should take a chance on PG Jared Jordan. Maybe the Pistons should take a chance on him with Chauncey officially declaring himself a free agent today.

Kobe on the East Coast?

Knick fans, if you really want to have Kobe in a Knick uniform, you have to ask yourself how badly do you want him. If you're willing to give up Curry. then we got a shot. I worked out a trade on the ESPN Trade Machine and this one worked:

Knicks trade: Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford and Channing Frye and Renaldo Balkman or David Lee for,

Lakers trade: Kobe, Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar.

I don't know how else to get Kobe. I was listening to sports radio yesterday and these guys were calling in with some idiotic trades (Mardy Collins, Channing Frye and Steve Francis for Kobe). We would be giving up a lot, but we would get Kobe while he's still in his prime, get a promising big man in Bynum (he's only 20) who some think could develop into a real good center to take the place of Curry. In addition, we would get a true point guard to take over for Steph in a year or two. Personally im a fan of Farmar. He's not much of a scorer, but he knows how to run a team and hes a good athlete. Plus, we would still have a young team to build around Kobe.

They might be willing to do it since they would get one of the only true scoring centers left in the NBA along with an established scoring guard who also happens to have a great chemistry with Curry in Crawford. Plus, Frye or Lee would immediately start for them. They would give away one starter for 3, plus they would get a good, young bench player in Frye or Balkman (depending who we would have to give up). What other package do you see the Knicks being able to put together without giving up Curry? One that the Lakers might actually be willing to accept? Especially if the Bull are willing to give up Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas and Ben Gordon for Kobe.

Other trades:

Theres a rumor that the Celtics are trying to get Garnett for: Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and the 5th pick in this upcoming draft. That kind of sounds tempting.

In the Post today Pete Vecsey is reporting that the Wizards and the Suns are talking about Shawn Marion for Antawn Jamison straight up.

A Hip Hop Time Capsule

Israel, Alex, and I had a discussion last night, while listening to "Only Built for Cuban Links", where we discussed - if we were to leave a time capsule for future generations - what ten artists defined hip hop for our generation and would demand inclusion? For our generation, we defined the time span to be from 1987 to 2007, and we decided for artists, we would include a group, no matter how large or small, as a single entity. NWA, for example, would be one entity in our time capsule list. Another important note; politics pushed aside, we are talking about musically important, and by that we aren’t talking about one hot album, but someone(s),who changed hip-hop, or defined it for the past twenty years. The first six were sort of easy:
(This list is in no particular order.)

1. Public Enemy: Sure Rap’s roots were somewhat socially conscious, but the way Public Enemy mixed their message with songs friendly for radio and mass consumption made revolutionary thought accessible.

2. Wu-Tang: As Israel noted, they were the first rappers to take Mafioso, drug dealing mentality and lingo, and elevate it to the form of high art. Production wise, they were clearly ahead of their time.

3. NWA: They opened the rest of the country to the world of California. They added a violent, against the mainstream edge to hip-hop that took it from a friendly New York Party genre, to a socially angry medium for expression.

4. Outkast: “East coast, West coast, the South got something to say and that’s it.” This group was the first to loosen the head lock the East and West Coast had over hip-hop for a long time. They didn’t bite either, sticking to a distinctly Southern sound and perspective. (Of the first six, this group was the only to have any dissension. Alex thought they didn’t belong in the top ten.)

5. Notorious B.I.G: With only two albums, this man created songs that defined Hip-hop. His swagger, honesty, wit, and story-telling ability took the country by storm. His early death was a blow one might point to as the end of hip hop’s ability to successfully walk the line of broad appeal and high lyrical standard.

6. Tupac Shakur: Shit talker, contradictarian, poet, and probably the most passionate person to ever pick up a microphone, his life speaks to a certain post-civil rights/integration frustration that many of us have felt. No one spoke more eloquently and angrily about the lie of the American Dream.

Here things became less certain for us. We had a list of six rappers, only four slots left, and no women on the list. We are keeping it real, no politics, Little Kim doesn’t make this list, nor does Foxy Brown. We decided we needed a woman, and the only one worthy to be mentioned with these rappers is:

7. Lauren Hill: Easy choice right? She could rap, for sure, but I question the strength of her overall rap catalogue, but her few rap lyrics sound unbelievably perceptive and honest next to most other rappers. So we included her on this list.

8. Nas: This man has personal demons, but Nas has brought so much originality and riskiness to the form of rap songs one has to include him. Whether it’s rapping backwards, changing the volume and intensity of his voice, speaking from the consciousness of a gun, or himself in his mother’s womb, he has taken chances. Plus, in my humble opinion, no one is more New York than Nasty Nas.

9. Jay- Z: The pretty boy swagger, the hustler’s bravado, Jay- Z has stolen more lines from Biggie than a coke head girlfriend from her drug dealer Man, yet, overzealous homage aside, this guy has word-play and puns that match the greatest wordsmiths of all time: “High school, Crossover/ Waved away picks/ Music is the same thing/ Gave away hits.”

10. Who knows? This I want to leave to the Cypher. Who should get this last slot. Wait, what is that I hear? is that Dre arguing for the Roots? I hope not. I won’t even dare to mention Lil Wayne. Who belongs here? Also, did we get it right? Feel free to argue, but remember our definition: changed the nature of hip-hop in the last twenty years.

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Subway Series. Round Two.

"Ding. Ding." - Apollo Creed

It’s time. Round 2 of the Subway Series begins today with the hated “Rocket” starting game one. While no Met players remain from the last time Clemens pitched against the Mets in the 2000 World Series, Met fans remember all too clearly how Clemens beaned Mike Piazza multiple times during that season. The teams have had a role reversal as of late. The Yankees come in riding the crest of a 9 game winning streak. The Mets meanwhile come into the series having lost 9 in a row. The last time these two teams met, it couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Yankees, but now the tables have turned.

The Mets seemed poised to begin running away with their division, until this recent stretch of bad play. The Yankees were the pre-season pick by many to win their division, which would be their tenth division championship in a row. There were questions with each teams pitching, but the expectations were that each teams’ lineup and bullpen would be able to carry them through the regular season to the playoffs.

Then, the injuries struck. The Yankees were afflicted before the season began by losing their ace, Chien-Ming Wang, with a pulled hamstring. One by one, 4 out of their 5 starting pitchers missed time due to injury throughout the season. Carl Pavano was lost for the year, but no surprise there. Mariano looked old. His trademark cutter was moving along at a snails pace of 87 mph. He was used sporadically during the first third of the season, which most likely contributed to his ineffectiveness, due to the fact that the Yankees weren’t playing well enough to protect a lead during the late innings of games. The team looked awful. Noone was predicting that the Yankees would rebound from this malaise. However, the pitching has come around and the lineup has finally awoken: Cano and especially Abreu, who holds the lineup together, have started to produce as expected. This run has been highlighted by the Yankees romp through two National League teams, further illustrating the disparity in play between the leagues. The Diamondbacks had a 24-12 record since May 12^th, the best record in the NL over that time period. If this was the best the National League had to offer, does this mean that the gap between the two leagues has possibly widened?

“I really have no words” – Ron Darling

The Mets have taken their turn at experiencing injuries now over these last few weeks, they’ve taken hits to their entire starting outfield. All their starters have missed time and even Endy Chavez and Lastings Milledge are currently out with injuries. In the case of Milledge, this is a wasted opportunity for Lastings to gain valuable experience and seasoning with the outfield in shambles. Paul LoDuca for one refuses to use the injuries as an excuse for the losses. He believes that the reason for the Mets losing streak can be chalked up to the lack of hitting with runners in scoring position. However, it appears that the problems run deeper than just clutch hitting. Like the Yankees during their run of horrible play, the Mets look listless and don’t seem to care that they are losing their once comfortable lead in the NL East. During last nights game, Ron Darling stated, “I really have no words”, this was followed by 10 seconds of silence. This was after one of the Mets pitchers failed the basic execution of covering first base on a grounder toward first. It’s gotten that bad for the Mets, at least in the eyes of their Championship winning former starting pitcher.

Truthfully, this series may be just the elixir the Mets need to right their ship. This series should inspire the Mets to play harder and most assuredly better, which would come as a relief to Mets fans. Mets players hate playing second fiddle to the Yankees in New York. Furthermore, no matter how well they play against the Yankees, it will remain that way until they win a Championship of their own. If a World Series win comes at the expense of the Yankees, as the Yankees did to the Mets in 2000, it would be all the sweeter. The Mets have two lefties starting in this series which should be an advantage for them since the Yankees have historically struggled against lefties with their predominantly left-handed hitting lineup. On top of that, the Yankees are starting Clemens tonight who, to temper the excitement of Yankee fans, he did well in his last start, but it was against the Pirates. A bad team in a bad league.

Floowing Clemens in teh rotation is rookie Tyler Clippard who, while he pitched well and earned the win against the Mets the last time these two teams met, too much can't be expected from him this time out. Either way, this should be an entertaining weekend for New York baseball, but most likely, a bit of a letdown for Met fans.

Why is Hockey still a professional sport? Is it really though?

Are we really sure owners of these franchises aren't "paying" players with "funny money" or Monopoly money? Where do these hosers make money anyway? When I'm catching Sportscenter and that guy with the mullet comes on I put it on mute and walk away. Does anyone else do this? Or do you do the, "I'll change the channel and come back exactly as the segment is ending" maneuver? Very tricky and it works about once per week, but when you do it, you know you feel good about yourself. You can admit it. Especially Ernesto with his eleventeen remotes.

See, there's this thing called Hockey that I know nothing about and it seems no one else does for that matter. I think it was last week that the Stanley Cup Finals were on TV and it was the lowest rated broadcast of ANYTHING, ever. Yes. Ever. "The Ropers" was a ratings bonanza compared to the STANLEY CUP FINALS!! "Homeboys in Outer Space" had better ratings. Hey, I would catch an episode now and then just to see if they had a hot alien female wearing something provocative too, but, the show sucked. Sorry, let's push forward.

I would love to hear someone really argue for their love of Hockey. I'm sure its hard right now what with the season over (Is it?). However, if you ask me why I love the NBA in September, I'll still have answers at the ready. It doesn't even represent itself well on Sports Center. THE guy that is the Hockey personality on ESPN has a mullet. And he wears a suit. A suit with a mullet? C'mon.

Aside from all that, can you imagine if the NBA would have fights the way they are celebrated in Hockey? They'd re-institute slavery with the quick-fast. Meanwhile, these guys assault each other with weapons! And it’s a professional sport!?! If a player just leaves the bench without throwing a punch in the NBA, he's thrown out of the next game. Meanwhile, the NHL has guys earning paychecks whose only role on the team is to get into fights. The country went into an uproar when Don Cheaney sent a guy into a basketball game to foul someone hard, real hard. Meanwhile, the NHL has guys who go into games to start fist fights.

Can anyone in the world please, please, please tell me why this is a professional sport? They're not even in real cities. Raleigh, North Carolina has professional sports franchise? Sunrise, Florida? Are you kidding me? At the end of the day, I'd still rather watch an episode of "Cop Rock" over this crap on ice any day. Anyone else out there that likes this? Hello?

The Yankees and Mets. Another crack at the Subway Series?

Are the Yankees back?

As a Yankee fan, things are finally coming together. They have won 10 of their last 12 and 7 in a row and are back to .500 again. The rotation is finally healthy again. Clemens pitched well, not great, but well. His splitter still has a lot of action on it. His fastball was only topping out at 91-92, but with his movement, control and "Mr. Splitty" (A real dumb nickname for a pitch), it was more than enough to strikeout 7 Pirates. Sure he's probably 'Roiding up, but I don't care. The offense is finally hitting the way they're supposed to with Abreu and Cano hitting their stride again Jeter, Posada and A-Rod (Haters please raise your hands) and balancing the offense out. Probably more importantly, its time for some more (yay!) interleague play.

Ah yes, interleague play, the soft part of the schedule. Or, as AL teams like to call it, "Sexy Time". Going into last nights game the AL had won 51 times to the NL's 35 wins. Just a little more stats:

________AL _________NL
Avg. _____.289 ________ .251
HR's _____104 __________94
ERA _____4.10 ________5.45

The Yankees have been reaping the benefits of interleague play to the tune of 107-73 since it began in 1996. This should allow them to make up even more ground in the standings. Currently, they are 9.5 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East. Although, I'm not holding my breath waiting for them to catch the Sawx. Their pitching is too good and they have been pretty healthy. However, if they lose their top 8 starters in their organization for any length of time in teh second half, the way the Yankees did in the first, I like their chances. Instead, I am focusing more on the Wild Card, which they are currently only 5.5 games behind current leaders Cleveland and Detroit who are tied for the lead. With the Yankees resurgence, this should be an exciting summer.

Better times ahead for Mets?

The Mets have hit a rough patch with injuries of their own after steamrolling their way through the first third of their schedule. Their entire outfield had been on the DL at one time or another which would be tough for any team. Shawn Green just came off the DL this week leaving only Moises Alou (quad strain and octogenarian-at-large) and Endy Chavez on the 15-day DL with a pulled hamstring. They are in the midst of a 4 game losing streak and have only won 2 of their last 10 games played. John Maine has come back down to earth after his phenomenal start, settling back into his role as a number 3 starter. El Duque is pitching like he did 10 years ago, although pitching in the NL may have something to so with that. If they get to the playoffs - which they should - he will be a great asset as his track record has shown.

After finishing up their series with the Dodgers they play 3 more AL teams. The highlight of these upcoming games is another Subway Series with the Yankees. The City always comes alive with the bickering that usually ensues. This year, the rivalry has been somewhat subdued with the Yankees horrible start to the season, but I am sure it will pick up some steam as the Series approaches. The interleague part of the schedule couldn't have come at a worse time for the Mets with their injuries and slumping bats. Carlos Delgado has looked lost at the plate at times and, probably more importantly, his bat looks slow. This places more pressure than ever on their cornerstones, Reyes and Wright, to carry them with their upcoming series against The Yankees, Minnesota and Oakland. Luckily, the Mets have not had any injuries fall upon their two brightest stars. Wright's power swing seems to be coming around to compliment the always superb Reyes who is quickly supplanting New York's other shortstop, Jeter, as the best all around shortstop in New York. However, I expect the Yankees to take at least 2 out of the 3 upcoming games this weekend extending the Mets difficult times. Although, with their offense and bullpen, they are the class of the NL and should make the playoffs unless the injury bug rears its ugly head at their starting pitchers.

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (And set up shop)

Ed sent me the link to this article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=thompson_wright&id=2900878&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos2

You guys have GOT to read this article. Just be prepared to be angry. Its about a 20 year old man that is in his second year of a ten year sentence. The reason? He received oral sex from a young lady of 15 when he was 17. Can you believe that crap? I don't want to offend anyone from down South, BUT, what the hell goes on down there that makes sense? No wonder the schools don't teach the theory of evolution down there. The people in charge haven't evolved! Bastardos!

Let us know what you think.

The NBA . Trades anyone?

Any trades you guys would like to happen? Or think might actually happen? Will Garnett EVER leave Minnesota? Will Kobe ever make up his damn mind?

Ed put the Rasheed Wallace trade out there. So i'll respond: No way. There's now way i'd want him in a Knick uniform. I might be alone on this one, but I don't see the guy being a good fit, especially at his age. He might provide the team with some crazy good herb (In case the Feds are reading, this site is adamantly anti-drugs). Thinking more about it though, he might be a good to partner for Curry, but I don't think he rebounds enough. The only way I would see it working is if Lee could play full time at SF by making his jumper, although they would probably want him in the trade. If he could, he could pick up the rebounding void that Curry and Wallace would leave.

Other trade rumors out there:

Rashard Lewis to the Celtics, as long as Gerald Green isn't involved in the trade. Apparently, they're good friends with each other. And can anybody else believe that the Suns want to trade Shawn Marion? His name is in a bunch of rumors as long as the team trading for him takes back a bad contract or 2 (Does the name Marcus Banks ring a bell?). The Suns want to trade high up into the first round and are using Marion as one of their starting points for any package for Marion since they can't get Atlanta's pick which was Lottery Protected.

Didja catch the Series Finale of the Sopranos? Oogats!

What did you all think about the ending? I couldn't tell what David Chase was going for. I know that he has bristled in the past about being questioned about how he has left subplots left just hanging out there in the Sopranos universe without ever addressing them again.

Like, isn't SOMEONE going to castrate the guy who raped Dr. Melfi? While were at it, why did Dr, Melfi become so unhot? Remember how she used to be kind of sexy? Why? Why did that have to end to and be unexplained. Well, you get the picture. In past interviews Chase has said that in real life, stories aren't always finished nice and easy in an easily explained way. This is true. In that sense, I can respect him. And as my friend Drew said, you have to give Chase his props for having the courage of his convictions and writing the ending the way he did.

I, personally, like the ending. He didn't do what people here in the States are so used to by this country's TV and cinema: happy, complete endings. I liked the fact that we, the viewers, are allowed to choose the ending that we like or think should happen. I, for one, think that Tony didn't get shot by the guy in the bathroom. Tony is a survivor. For all his "growth" in therapy, the guy is like a roach. He's gonna survive no matter what. If it's you and him in a room and only one of you can come out alive, my money is on Tony. If the Sopranos ever got to the point where the Feds finally got Tony, I might have been disappointed if Tony DIDN'T turn State's evidence. I only hope that Chase was staying, in his mind, true to the show and not going for a way to have people arguing over how the show should have ended. Then I just feel used.

As for what I didn't like about the way the show ended, I didn't like how Chase was making it seem that Paulie was helping out the New York family. He made it seem pretty obvious that someone was playing both sides of the fence. That and how Silvio got shot with his piece in his briefcase. WTF!!?!??!? But, as my friend Joe said, this is the same guy that had an asthma attack the first day he was left in charge in Tony's absentia.

The show ended with it's best season since season 5. It's sad in the sense that we don't have a great show to look forward to anymore on Sunday nights, especially for me and my friends who are really into Mob movies (which reminds me, we need to do movie club soon). At least we were treated to perhaps, the best writing on TV for the last 7 years and now we won't have to another year, year and a half for the next season. Now THAT was tortuous.

Introduction

First off, thank you for taking the time out of your life to read this.

I am starting this blog for my friends and me. We are battle-tested, die-hard sports fans (Yankees, Mets, Jets, Giants, Knicks Nets, Pistons, etc.) who aren’t band wagon jumpers. Mind you, we’re not truly dedicated like, um, lets say face-painters, but we know and love our sports. If you have a bottle of Brugal or Bacardi rum and some Coca-Cola lying around, we can talk/yell passionately about anything, and we’ll actually know a little bit about what we’re talking about to boot…at least from time to time. Just please don’t catch us on a day when one of us is alleging that Lebron still isn’t as good as Grant Hill was, it could get ugly up in this piece.

As I sit before my keyboard listening to “All for one” by Brand Nubian, I can’t think how appropriate this song is for this blog: I love my friends, and I feel as though we actually carry intelligent conversations with one another. Well, that’s debatable when we’re arguing about who best portrayed Batman (until Christian Bale that is). Subsequently, I hope that this blog allows others to partake in our debates/convos/heated discussions about everything: Sports, Literature, Music (mostly hip-hop), Movies, and Politics and just about everything else under the sky. For the most part we will stick to sports, but we usually look at sports with an eye toward the “Big Picture” and how sports is impacted by the way the media covers it and how, in turn, the media is affected by the dreaded taboo: Race. We’re not fist pumping, big afro, dashiki wearing black nationalists wishing for a revolution, but we know that race affects things around us and we don’t pretend that it doesn’t like many mainstream media outlets.

We are children of the 80’s, mostly hailing from Brooklyn, New York. As the great KRS-One once said, “Brooklyn keeps on takin’it”. I was born and raised in Brooklyn but my parents were born in South America. My friends are a great mix of Latino, Black, White, Jewish, etc. But we have similar values and I, for one, am never afraid to use them as my faithful sounding board. Use us. We are tekkie geeks, literary geeks (a few aspiring writers, check out www.everythingbutthefiction.blogspot.com , my friend Drews’ blog on the New Yorker magazine), artists (go to natmeade.com, for my friend Nat’s artwork. He’s a great painter who also happened to be a Division 1 Left Tackle for Boise State), comic book aficionados, movie buffs and music critics. We might be able to answer a question you have or, ask the question that hasn’t been asked yet.

There will be the occasional article, or even interview with a person of interest on sports or any of the other topics that I listed above, but mostly, there will be opinions, a smattering of facts and a little community thrown in for good measure. Give us a shot, you might like us. On the other hand, if you step up to the plate with a weak comment/question/retort about MLB, the NFL or the NBA, you might get snuffed!

Join the cypher! It’s all love!