Archive for the ‘Basketball’ Category
Grant Hill’s Wife Rocks Oh’ Canada
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009The Award For The Most Self-Indulgent Sports Intro Ever Goes To…
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
Please Just Shut Up and Look Cute
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
True to form Eva Longoria-Parker was all over her hubby, Tony Parker, last weekend at the NBA All-Star festivities. And, like I noted in my Valentine’s Day Hot Couples’ List, I like them and they are cute together but she really needs to stop talking about thier love life.Eva gushed about spending the off-season in France, where Parker just bought a basketball team. “I love France and French men,” said Longoria smiling at Parker. “I mean I love this French guy.”
Eva, by now we all know you love your hubby and we’re truly happy for you , but France has enough cheese without you spreading it thick in every interview you do.
The School of Sportsmanship
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
Last month I posted on a widely reported story of a girls’ high school basketball game in which the final score was 100-0. I criticized the winning team’s coach for his disregard for sportsmanship and humility. Add to that the black cloud that has been cast over the sports world in recent weeks with drug scandals, arrests, etc., and it’s easy to become jaded and negative toward the world of sports in general.
But every now and then a story emerges that completely restores your faith in the ability of sports to bring people together and bring out he best in human nature. I came across such a story today.
On Saturday, Feb. 7, Milwaukee Madison senior and captain of the school’s basketball team, Johntell Franklin, lost his mother, Carlitha, only 39 years old, to a 5 year battle with cancer. His principal and coach, Aaron Womack Jr. was with Franklin at the hospital though his team was scheduled to play a game against DeKalb (Ill.) High School that night.
DeKalb had traveled more than 2 hours to Madison for the game and waited patiently an additional 2 hours as Womack rushed from the hospital to the school to coach his team.
“We were sympathetic to the circumstances and the events,” said DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We even told Coach Womack that it’d be OK to call off the game, but he said we had driven 2½ hours to get here and the kids wanted to play. So we said, ‘Spend some time with your team and come out when you’re ready.’”
Franklin understandably, had indicated to his coaches that he would sit out that night’s game. After having a change of heart, Franklin decided he wanted to play and arrived at the gym in the second quarter. But Franklin’s name was not in the scorebook because his coach didn’t expect him to be there.
Womack chose to put Franklin in the game despite a rule that required the referees to charge the team with a technical foul for putting a player in the game who was not on the roster. Knowing the situation, Rohlman told the referees that they did not want the call.
Having no other choice but to follow the rules the referees charged Milwaukee Madison with a technical foul.
This is where the story takes an amazing turn.
“I gathered my kids and said, ‘Who wants to take these free throws?’” Rohlman said, recounting the game to the Journal Sentinel. “Darius McNeal put up his hand. I said, ‘You realize you’re going to miss, right?’ He nodded his head.”
McNeal approached the free throw line and twice rolled the ball out of bounds in a gesture of amazing compassion and understanding.
“I did it for the guy who lost his mom,” McNeal told the newspaper. “It was the right thing to do.”
After the game, which Madison won, the two teams (who had already met twice previously) sat down together, as is their tradition, for pizza ”four kids to a pizza, two Madison kids and two DeKalb kids,” Womack told the Journal Sentinel.
In response to the game, Womack later wrote to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle,
“As a principal, school, school district staff, and community you should all feel immense pride for the remarkable job that the coaching staff is doing in not only coaching these young men, but teaching them how to be leaders…I’d like to recognize Darius who stepped up to miss the shot on purpose. He could have been selfish and cared only for his own stats [I hope Coach Rohlman doesn't make him run for missing the free throws].”
If you’re a parent who has ever debated over whether or not to include your kids in athletics this is precisely why you should. There is more to be learned on a football field, a basketball court or in a hockey rink than passing a ball, shooting a lay-up or perfecting your slap shot. This story reminds us all that we are lucky to have some amazing coaches out there that are wisely guiding young athletes and teaching them valuable lessons both in and out of the sports arena.
Cop Out
Friday, February 13th, 2009
"Don't you know who I am?"
Check out the video of former U of Cincinnati basketball coach and current Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy being arrested last December.
As if the arrest in itself weren’t shameful enough, Kennedy’s wife’s subsequent lawsuit against the cabdriver who her husband is charged with assaulting took this particular case to another level of messed up.
Oh, you didn’t hear? Coach Kennedy’s wife has sued the cabbie her husband allegedly punched because the stress over his arrest has caused Kennedy to lose his libido, or in legal terms, she is holding him liable for loss of consortium.
Assuming her husband is innocent (remember that whole innocent until proven guilty thing?) Kennedy’s wife showed no class, no restraint and no common sense or judgement by reacting to her husband’s arrest with a frivolous lawsuit.
Seriously, what could a cabbie in Cincinnati have to offer her for legal compensation for a lack of sex? Instead of responding with dignity and letting the justice system sort through the mess and prove her husband innocent she goes and decides to tie up the courts even further with this ridiculous lawsuit?
Thankfully there is one bright spot in this whole mess and oddly enough it is perhaps the best one liner ever delivered by an arresting officer.
When being placed under arrest, Kennedy plead for the police to let him go as he “was scheduled to be on ESPN” the following morning. He went on to tell the officer that his arrest would spark a “national incident”.
Unaffected by Kennedy’s attempt to get out of a sticky situation with the predictable “don’t you know who I am” defense, the officer casually responded,
“You think we’ve never arrested somebody that’s made national media? We deal with the Bengals all the time,” said the officer.
Rethink This Ad Campaign
Monday, February 9th, 2009Check out this link involving three athletes that have been major topics on my blog lately- A Rod, Michael Phelps and Kobe Bryant, it’s pretty interesting.
King James v. King Kobe
Thursday, February 5th, 2009
Fresh off Kobe Bryan’t record-setting 61 points against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden LeBron James wasn’t about to be outdone.
As impressive as Kobe’s super scoring feat, LeBron managed to upstage Kobe by scoring a 52-point triple double (10 rebounds, 11 assists plus 2 blocked shots) at MSG last night. He’s the first to score a triple-double in a 50-point game since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which puts James in some pretty special company.
LeBron James, at 24 years old may very well be the best player in basketball. I know a lot of Kobe fans would beg to differ, but at the very least James puts up numbers that warrant a debate. And there is no shortage of debate on this particular topic. Just type in a google search about who is the better player and you’ll find scores of articles and blogs arguing over the superiority of one or the other.
A lot of sports writers and fans are quick to crown Kobe the king of basketball. Some even have the audacity to suggest that he is better than Michael Jordan. Before we crown King Kobe lets consider the a few points.
Others argue that Kobe earns the edge when it comes down to clutch playmaking, or that he is a better defensive player than LeBron. I would give Kobe the nod in the clutch performance department. He’s proven time and time again that during crunch time he can be counted on to deliver. Defensively, it’s a wash. LeBron’s rebounding and shot blocking make up for Kobe’s slyness.
While Kobe may (arguably) be a better individual player LeBron is without a doubt the superior team player. And basketball is, after all, a team sport.
Add to that the fact that LeBron is bigger, stronger, younger, has better career stats and shows much more maturity at 24 than Kobe does at 30, I say you have to give the edge to LeBron.
In the kingdom of the court all hail King James. I wonder if he is in need of a disgraced knight in shining armor? I hear Sir Charles is looking for work.
I Dare You Not To Get Choked Up
Thursday, February 5th, 2009You may have come across this one before, it’s been around for a while. But whether you’ve seen it or not here you go.
H-O-R-S-E
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
Like most all-star weekends the most entertaining event during the NBA All-Star weekend is the skills competition. Well, brush up on your playground rules because horse is back, and I don’t mean Seabiscuit.
In a stroke of genius, the shooting contest we all know and love will now join the dunk contest, 3-point shootout and skills challenge on the Saturday night festivities before the All-Star game which is played on Sunday.
It will be interesting to see what kind of crazy shots the contestants come up with to challenge their opponents.
Storm Release Swoopes
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
Veteran guard, and probably one of the most well-known female basketball players of all time, Sheryl Swoopes has been waived by the Seattle Storm.
In an effort to keep the team under the salary cap head coach Brian Alger said,
“We were fortunate to be able to add Sheryl to our roster last year as her leadership and experience were a key part of our 22-win season,” Agler said. “We are thankful for her contributions to the Storm on and off the court and wish her the best as she moves on to the next step in her career.”
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